APRIL 4, 2025
Karina Canellakis extends contract with Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra has announced the extension of Karina Canellakis’s tenure as Chief Conductor through August 2031. Canellakis, who took up the role at the start of the 2019–20 season, will continue her collaboration with the ensemble following a series of acclaimed performances and recordings.
The announcement coincides with the release of their latest album together on Pentatone: Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle, following a previous Bartók recording that earned a GRAMMY nomination in 2024. Highlights of their partnership include a full cycle of Janáček’s operas and the Dutch premiere of Jörg Widmann’s Arche.
Born in New York, Karina Canellakis is an American conductor and violinist. She gained international attention after winning the Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award in 2016 and now appears regularly with major orchestras across Europe and the United States.
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APRIL 4, 2025
Houston Grand Opera announces 2025–26 season
Houston Grand Opera has unveiled its 2025–26 season, which will feature seven productions spanning repertoire from Gershwin and Puccini to Handel and Kevin Puts. The season opens with Porgy and Bess, presented in a staging by Washington National Opera and conducted by James Gaffigan. Angel Blue and Michael Sumuel lead the cast, with Latonia Moore making her company mainstage debut as Serena.
Among the season’s highlights is HGO’s first full production of Puccini’s Il trittico, with Corinne Winters, Jamie Barton, and Ryan McKinny in principal roles. The company will also stage Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s Silent Night, an opera inspired by the 1914 Christmas truce during World War I. This revised production is co-produced with the Metropolitan Opera and directed by James Robinson.
The season continues with a family-friendly Hansel and Gretel, presented in collaboration with San Francisco Opera and the Royal Opera House, and includes Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men in the Cullen Theater. A staged version of Handel’s Messiah (in the Mozart arrangement), directed by Robert Wilson, and Rossini’s The Barber of Seville round out the lineup. The season will be the last under Patrick Summers’s leadership as artistic and music director; he will become music director emeritus in May 2026.
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APRIL 3, 2025
Alisa Weilerstein premieres Thomas Larcher’s new cello work with the New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic presents the world premiere of returning into darkness, a new work for cello and orchestra by Austrian composer Thomas Larcher, from April 3 to 5 at David Geffen Hall. The piece was co-commissioned by the Philharmonic along with several major European orchestras, and written for cellist Alisa Weilerstein, who leads the premiere under the baton of Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider.
Described by the composer as a “ballad for cello and orchestra,” returning into darkness explores themes of loss, turmoil, and transformation, unfolding across a continuous arc that begins and ends in silence. The cello traverses shifting sonic terrain—sometimes embedded within the orchestra’s textures, at other times standing alone. Larcher, who previously composed Ouroboros for Weilerstein, praised her as “fearless” and “intensely expressive,” noting that she “really goes all in.”
Also on the program are Mendelssohn’s Intermezzo, Nocturne, and Wedding March from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Schumann’s Symphony No. 2 in C major.
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APRIL 1, 2025
Anne-Sophie Mutter and a world premiere at Carnegie Hall
Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter returns to Carnegie Hall on April 3, joined by pianist Lambert Orkis, her long-time recital partner. The program spans works from the 18th to the 21st century and features the world premiere of Likoo by Iranian composer Aftab Darvishi—a piece inspired by grief and longing in the wake of the Women, Life, Freedom movement in Iran. The work was commissioned by Mutter and is dedicated to “all the women who continue to mourn the loss of a loved one.”
Born in Tehran, Darvishi has developed a distinctive musical voice, blending Persian musical traditions with Western classical forms. Her works have been performed by ensembles such as the Kronos Quartet and BBC Singers, and Likoo reflects both personal and collective themes of loss, resilience, and cultural memory.
The rest of the recital includes Mozart’s Violin Sonata in G Major, K. 301; Schubert’s Fantasy in C Major, D. 934; Clara Schumann’s Three Romances, Op. 22; and Respighi’s Violin Sonata in B Minor. The concert marks another chapter in Mutter and Orkis’s nearly 40-year collaboration.
For more info visit the Carnegie Hall website.
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MARCH 31, 2025
Kim Sae-hyun wins the Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition in Paris
South Korean pianist Kim Sae-hyun has won the 2025 edition of the Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition, held in Paris. In the final round, the 17-year-old performed Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Orchestra of the Republican Guard, conducted by Bastien Stil.
Kim has already built an impressive early career. A former Kumho Prodigy, he won First Prize, the Audience Prize, and the Junior Jury Prize at the 2023 Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists. He was also named a 2024 YoungArts Winner with Distinction in Classical Music (Piano).
He has performed at venues such as Jordan Hall, Salle Cortot, Seoul Arts Center, and Yamaha Hall Ginza, and appeared as a soloist with the Canton and Korean Symphony orchestras. Kim is currently enrolled in the Harvard/NEC dual degree program, pursuing both a Bachelor of Arts at Harvard College and a Master of Music at the New England Conservatory.
Founded in 1943, the Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition is one of France’s most established classical music competitions.
PH: Kim Sae-hyun
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MARCH 31, 2025
Jesús Herrera appointed artistic director of the London Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra has announced the appointment of Spanish arts manager Jesús Herrera as its new artistic director. He will take up the role in June 2025, overseeing the orchestra’s creative planning and contributing to its artistic strategy, with the aim of enhancing both its musical excellence and international reach.
The orchestra’s principal conductor is Edward Gardner, who has held the position since 2021. Karina Canellakis serves as principal guest conductor. As artistic director, Herrera will be responsible for shaping the programming and broader artistic vision of the ensemble, working in close collaboration with the musical leadership.
Herrera currently works at Intermusica as Director of Creative Partnerships & Projects. Before rejoining the agency in 2024, he served as General Manager and Artistic Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León and the Centro Cultural Miguel Delibes in Valladolid.
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MARCH 28, 2025
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra announces 2025–26 season
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has announced its 2025–26 Delta Classical season, the ensemble’s 81st and the fourth under Music Director Nathalie Stutzmann. The season opens in September with a special performance by Lang Lang, and officially launches in October with Stutzmann conducting Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben and Elgar’s Cello Concerto with soloist Alisa Weilerstein.
Highlights include the conclusion of the orchestra’s Beethoven Project with Symphony No. 9, and major choral works such as Bach’s Mass in B Minor and Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony. Guest artists this season include Hélène Grimaud, Leif Ove Andsnes, Isabelle Faust, and Alexandre Kantorow, who will give a solo recital.
The orchestra’s America @ 250 series will mark the United States’ semiquincentennial with music by American composers including Barber, Bernstein, Ellington, and new works by Valerie Coleman, Nicky Sohn, and Leonard Slatkin. Former music director Robert Spano returns for two programs featuring Bernstein’s symphonies.
For more details and tickets, visit aso.org
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