The life of Hildegard Von Bingen, the 12th-century Benedictine nun, composer and mystic, unfolds in Vision, a new film by the veteran German director Margarethe von Trotta.

The Washington National Opera has appointed conductor Philippe Auguin as its new music director. The appointment is the latest in a series of shake-ups for the company.

Detroit Symphony Orchestra musicians called a strike after refusing to accept steep pay cuts demanded by the financially struggling orchestra. Read more and listen to Midge Woolsey's interviews with both sides.

The California-based choral composer Eric Whitacre is searching for hundreds of singers in a record-breaking attempt to form the the world's largest online choir.

Zarin Mehta, the president and executive director of the New York Philharmonic, has announced he will step down at the end of the 2011-12 season.

Environmental disaster, political repression, and the Psalm 130 are inspiration for a new album by Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer. "De Profundis," featuring works from Schubert to Pärt, is this week’s Full Rotation.

Twenty-eight years after his death, pianist Glenn Gould still inspires, or provokes, interest. Genius Within, a new film documentary, explores his eccentric genius.

Pre-concert dining can be a harried and sometimes uneven affair, but several new restaurants around Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall are providing fresh options for a variety of tastes and budgets.

Susan Baker, the chairwoman of New York City Opera who presided over a turbulent period that included the ill-fated hiring of Gerard Mortier as general manager, will step down in December, the company announced Thursday. Baker, who is 59, has been chairwoman since 2003. Charles R. Wall, a former tobacco company lawyer who served on City Opera's board of directors from 2001 to 2008, will succeed her as chairman.

Former tobacco executive Charles R. Wall is stepping in as chairman of New York City Opera, replacing Susan L. Baker, who has resigned.

Why does the violin world provide such rich fodder for crime writers? Behind the fictional world of legendary instruments and the characters who deal them, steal them, and even kill for them.

Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings is a piece of music frequently chosen to mark occasions of public mourning, including the funerals of F.D.R., J.F.K. and memorial concerts in the wake of 9/11.

Does the secret to the pristine sound of an 18th century violin lie in the density of its wood? Probably not. But it's among the intriguing questions raised by a recent scientific study of the Vieuxtemps, an instrument described as the "Mona Lisa of violins."

Summer has not yet officially arrived, but classical music is already decamping from the cities and heading for more bucolic settings. The Ojai Music Festival got an early start under the direction of British composer and conductor George Benjamin. 

A night at the opera doesn’t get much more rollicking and unpredictable than György Ligeti's apocalyptic satire Le Grand Macabre. Here is what you need to know if you are attending the New York Philharmonic's performance this week.

Soundcheck's picks this week include an afro-pop pioneer and a musical portrait of Los Angeles of the 1940s and '50s.

This week’s picks include a look into obscure corners of the violin repertoire and yet another fine indie rock band from Montreal. 

Inspect the room where Handel slept, see the last piano that Chopin composed on or check out Beethoven's viola. As you make your summer travel plans, here are five composer museums to consider, both near and far.

Reprinted with permission from MusicalAmerica.com

NEW YORK -- George Manahan, who has been a fixture in the pit of New York City Opera for the past 12 seasons, will add a more visible podium in 2010-11, as music director of the American Composers Orchestra.