Latest Classical music News

Kendrick Lamar surprises with new album 'GNX'

Nov. 22, 2024 15:16 PM EST

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kendrick Lamar gave music listeners an early holiday present Friday with the surprise drop of a new album. The Grammy winner's 12-track “GNX” is his first release since 2022's “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers” and his sixth studio album overall. It...

Kirill Petrenko finds leading the Berlin Philharmonic means 100 opinions and 100 expectations

Nov. 22, 2024 12:50 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — Kirill Petrenko thought about the challenge of leading the Berlin Philharmonic, perhaps the world’s greatest orchestra. “A hundred musicians have 100 opinions and 100 expectations — 100 different expectations,” the conductor said. Stefan Dohr,...

Has a waltz written by composer Frederic Chopin been discovered in an NYC museum?

Nov. 21, 2024 10:04 AM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — The brooding waltz was carefully composed on a sheet of music roughly the size of an index card. The brief, moody number also bore an intriguing name, written at the top in cursive: “Chopin.” A previously unknown work of music penned by the European master...

10 holiday gifts to hit the right note for music lovers

Nov. 20, 2024 14:06 PM EST

Music fans should be easy to shop for this holiday season, right? Wrong! What do you pick up for the friend who knew about that rapper months before the rest of the world? What about the audiophile, whose listening habits are particular and immovable? Your sister loves Taylor Swift,...

Music Review: The Breeders' Kim Deal soars on solo debut, a reunion with the late Steve Albini

Nov. 19, 2024 09:53 AM EST

When the Pixies set out to make their 1988 debut studio album, they enlisted Steve Albini to engineer “Surfer Rosa,” the seminal alternative record which includes the enduring hit, “Where Is My Mind?” That experience was mutually beneficial to both parties — and was the beginning of a...

US students who box, skydive and help youth and asylum seekers are among 2025's Rhodes scholars

Nov. 18, 2024 20:25 PM EST

A group of 32 students from the United States have been selected to attend the University of Oxford as part of the prestigious Rhodes scholar program in the coming year among an international class representing more than 70 nations, scholarship officials announced. The program...

Jeff Beck was one of rock's greatest guitarists. Now his instruments are up for auction

Nov. 15, 2024 10:48 AM EST

LONDON (AP) — Musicians, collectors and fans have a chance to own a guitar god’s tools of the trade — instruments owned by the late Jeff Beck are going up for auction. Christie’s announced Friday it will sell more than 130 items, including 90 guitars, from the collection of...

Burt Bacharach, composer of classic songs, will have papers donated to Library of Congress

Nov. 14, 2024 16:25 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Burt Bacharach, one of the most celebrated and popular composers and songwriters of the 20th century, will have his papers donated to the Library of Congress. Bacharach's widow Jane Bacharach, who made the donation, and the Library of Congress, announced the...

Mason Bates' Met-bound opera 'Kavalier & Clay' based on Michael Chabon novel premieres in Indiana

Nov. 14, 2024 12:21 PM EST

BLOOMINGTON, Indiana (AP) — When composer Mason Bates approached Michael Chabon about turning his novel “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” into an opera, he said the writer told him frankly that “opera was not his thing.” “He was very supportive of the...

Thailand's baby pygmy hippo Moo Deng now has an official song in 4 languages

Nov. 13, 2024 19:20 PM EST

BANGKOK (AP) — In case you can’t get enough of the little pygmy hippo Moo Deng from Thailand, there's now an official song featuring the internet's favorite baby animal — released in four languages for her global fans. The upbeat 50-second song “Moodeng Moodeng," available...