Friedrich Praetorius is appointed principal guest conductor at Leipzig Opera.

Simone Menezes has captivated audiences worldwide with her project Amazônia, which combines Sebastião Salgado’s moving photographs with music by Heitor Villa-Lobos and Philip Glass, and she will now be performing the programme with the Dresden Philharmonic (6 June) and the Gulbenkian Orchestra (11 and 12 June).

Johannes Maria Staud’s opera missing in cantu (eure paläste sind leer), based on a libretto by Thomas Köck, had its Austrian premiere on 23 May at the Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck in a new production by Bettina Bruinier, and will run until 7 July.

With Alban Berg’s Lulu in a new production directed by Jens-Daniel Herzog, Roland Kluttig made his debut at the Staatstheater Nürnberg on 17 May, and he will continue to conduct further performances until the end of June.

Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan will be performing the dance piece Sounding Light – which explores the delicate balance between human civilisation and nature – in Ludwigsburg on 22 and 23 May and at the Bregenzer Frühling on 29 May.

"An outstanding debut album": Jan Liebermann's recording, featuring works by Marcel Dupré and Maurice Duruflé, among others, was selected as an Editor's Choice by Gramophone magazine.

"Unquestionably magnificent". On 14 May, Michael Wendeberg conducted the world premiere of Sarah Nemtsov’s opera We at Dortmund Opera; the production, directed by Eva-Maria Höckmayr, will run until 7 June.

Sasha Stychkina’s debut CD is due to be released in June on the Alpha Classics label, and in the weeks leading up to it, singles from the album are whetting listeners’ appetites.

"A recording for the ages": Daishin Kashimoto’s interpretation of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with the Berlin Baroque Soloists has received rave reviews.

Until 21 June, Peter Rundel will be conducting eight performances of Sara Glojnarić’s new opera Station Paradiso at the Stuttgart Opera House, including the world premiere on 10 May.

From 9 May to 5 July, Johannes Klumpp will be conducting Mozart’s The Magic Flute in Gelsenkirchen, which will be presented in a completely new guise at the Musiktheater im Revier – directed by Nora Krahl using digital techniques, artificial intelligence and interactive technologies.

"Verve, energy, and charm": To kick off of their complete recording of Mozart’s string quintets, supplemented by contemporary musical ‘postcards’ to the composer, the Kuss Quartet has now released the first of three planned albums, in collaboration with violist Muriel Razavi.

‘A dazzling interpretation of the opera’: Christian Øland has won over both the press and the audience with his debut as General Music Director in Magdeburg – Massenet’s Manon can be seen under his musical direction until June.

We are delighted to announce that we are now working with the pianist Marianna Shirinyan, who captivates audiences as both a soloist and a chamber musician with her charismatic stage presence, as well as her delicate sensitivity, technical mastery and beautiful tone.

A warm welcome to Sasha Stychkina! We are pleased to announce that we are now taking over the management of this young musician, whose virtuosity at the piano has brought her early success in competitions and who now captivates audiences with her confident musicality and technical brilliance.

On 3 May, Alejo Pérez gave his inaugural concert as principal conductor of the Orquesta Estable del Teatro Colón, performing Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony and Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique.

Welcome, Jan Liebermann! We are thrilled to begin our collaboration with one of the most promising artists on the international organ scene.

For the German magazine Fono Forum, Arnt Cobbers spoke to Andreas Grau and Götz Schumacher about cosmic music, their collaboration with composers such as Stockhausen and Kurtág, and interpretative freedom in both older and contemporary music.

In 2026, the music world will celebrate the 100th birthday of Friedrich Cerha and honour the composer, who died in 2023, with publications, concerts and even a world premiere; a special stamp will also be issued to mark the occasion.

We are delighted to announce our collaboration with saxophonist Asya Fateyeva, who is captivating a growing international audience with her distinctive playing and innovative programme concepts.

To mark the release of his new album Notebook, Lukas Ligeti spoke in April 2026 in an in-depth interview with Samuel Andreyev about formative musical experiences and his artistic development.

Simone Menezes and her Ensemble K have recorded a chamber version of Gustav Holst's Planets Suite, which has now been released on CD under the title Cosmos.

Anton Gerzenberg's debut CD, Ravel Reflections, was launched on 5 December 2025 on the Prospero label.

On the occasion of the new recording of Stockhausen's epochal piano work Mantra, Götz Schumacher talks in an interview about the intensive relationship that has connected the GrauSchumacher Piano Duo with the work since its beginnings.

Following the performance of all six Mozart string quintets at the Heidelberg Spring Festival, Ilya Gringolts explained to us what attracts him to historical instruments and why the Gringolts Quartet will continue to play on gut strings more frequently in the future.

In an interview between her spring engagements in Lyon and Montreal, Jenny Daviet surprises us with her unexpected approach to roles and works and reveals her dreams for the future.

Recorded by the Ensemble Ascolta, the album Sounds, Archaeologies, now released on the KAIROS label, brings together compositions by Isabel Mundry that understand listening as an active, participatory process.

Under the baton of Titus Engel, the WDR Symphony Orchestra recorded Betsy Jolas' Musique d'hiver – the album has now been awarded the German Record Critics' Prize.

‘He sings beyond competition’: The press pays tribute to the great tenor Christoph Prégardien on the occasion of his 70th birthday, which he celebrated on 18 January 2026 at the Konzerthaus Dortmund.

Welcome, Christian Øland! We are delighted to begin our work for the young versatile Danish conductor, who took up two new chief positions this season.

We are delighted to announce our collaboration with conductor Simone Menezes, who builds bridges between different musical traditions and artistic disciplines with musical rigour and a discerning curatorial eye.

Johannes Klumpp and the Heidelberger Sinfoniker are awarded the OPUS KLASSIK for their complete recording of all Haydn symphonies, completed in autumn 2024. Our congratulations!

Ilya Gringolts' recording of Bach's sonatas for violin and harpsichord with Francesco Corti has now been released by Arcana as his label debut and was promptly awarded the Diapason d'or.

Holly Hyun Choe has given her inaugural concert as Principal Conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra (KORK) on January 14 with Beethoven's Third Symphony.

"Stylistic confidence and gripping expressiveness": The Kuss Quartet receives one of the coveted International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) for its first recording of two works by Ernst Gernot Klussmann.

Toshio Hosokawa has received the prestigious BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award for the "extraordinary reach of his music, which tends a bridge between the Japanese tradition and contemporary Western aesthetics", according to the jury.

Titus Engel is appointed Conductor in Residence at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Anssi Karttunen has recorded Betsy Jolas' complete works for cello and piano together with Nicolas Hodges – the double album has now been released on the bastille musique label.

In June 2025, Philippe Manoury's 'Thinkspiel' Die letzten Tage der Menschheit, based on Karl Kraus' monumental drama The Last Days of Mankind, premiered at the Cologne Opera under the direction of Peter Rundel and received enthusiastic reviews.

Just in time for Friedrich Cerha's 100th birthday, the Kairos label has released an album featuring his complete works for organ, recorded by Wolfgang Kogert.

Now available to stream in full length: Toshio Howokawa's new opera Natasha premiered in August 2025 at the New National Theatre in Tokyo under the baton of Kazushi Ono and was enthusiastically received.

Carlotta Dalia's album Segovia pays tribute to the pioneer of classical guitar playing and recorded on his own historical guitar.

In April and May 2025, the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar presented Mieczysław Weinberg's opera The Passenger in a new production staged by Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito under the musical direction of Roland Kluttig. We spoke to the conductor about his special relationship with Soviet music and the significance of Weinberg's opera for the memory of Nazi atrocities.

We congratulate Titus Engel on winning the Swiss Music Prize 2025.

Congratulations to Samir Odeh-Tamimi and the JACK Quartet: they each receive one of the coveted Italian Premio Abbiati critics' prizes 2025.

Holly Hyun Choe is appointed Directrice musicale of the Orchestre national de Cannes.

Edition Peters, part of Wise Music Group, has announced the signing of composer, drummer, and visionary musical innovator Lukas Ligeti to its roster.

In May 2025, the GrauSchumacher Piano Duo premiered Ming Tsao's second adaptation of Stockhausen's complex and open score Plus Minus, which has now been released on the Neos label.

Five questions for the JACK Quartet: For the Musikkollegium Winterthur magazine, the musicians gave humorous and revealing insights into their musical and literary passions.

Toshio Hosokawa's one-act opera Futari Shizuka with Ryoko Aoki in the title role and his acclaimed flute concerto Ceremony have been released on CD, recorded by the Residentie Orkest under Jun Märkl for the Naxos label.

Congratulations to Peter Rundel: the recording of Hèctor Parra's opera Les Bienveillantes, premiered under his direction at Opera Vlaanderen in 2019 and released on three CDs in 2024, has been awarded the prestigious Grand Prix international du disque by the Académie Charles Cros.

The 2025 Grawemeyer Music Composition Award goes to Christian Mason for his ensemble work Invisible Threads.

There are good reasons to celebrate in Porto: the Remix Ensemble is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2025. The ensemble's artistic director Peter Rundel looks back at its beginnings.

The sea of sound: Before Toshio Hosokawa's new opera Natasha premieres at the New National Theatre in Tokyo on 11 August 2025 under the direction of Kazushi Ono, we are publishing an excerpt from the composer's work notes.

In February, two very different albums with orchestra and big band were released, both recorded under the musical direction of Titus Engel: The orchestra and big band of the Deutsche Oper Berlin celebrate Duke Ellington, and the Basel Sinfonietta and the NDR Bigband present a new work by Michael Wertmüller.