He never achieved the celebrity of more glamorous colleagues, but drew acclaim as he remained at the podium until virtually the end of his long life.
He arrived on a mission to reshape the ensemble as its music director. Now, as he departs, he’s still making sense of his pandemic-interrupted tenure.
Covid brought live performance to a halt. Now the audience for pop concerts and sporting events has roared back, while attendance on Broadway and at some major museums is still down.
Patrick Milando, an accomplished French horn player, now splits his time between the orchestra pit and the cockpit, where he teaches budding pilots like he himself once was.
“Angel Island,” an oratorio by Huang Ruo, brings to life the stark poetry of the people who were detained on the California island in the early 1900s.
Gary Graffman, who is turning 95, is a man of many enthusiasms, including citrus infusions.
“It seemed like a switch flipped right before Thanksgiving,” the leader of the Chicago Symphony said.
Readers praise plans for more contemporary works. Also: Zelensky and American values; protecting the minority; remote work; the Groucho exception.
After one holiday season lost to the pandemic and another curtailed by Omicron, seasonal staples including “The Nutcracker,” “A Christmas Carol” and “Messiah” are back in force.
The benefits of group (music) therapy.
Many arts groups, worried about alienating older patrons, have maintained strict rules. Now “the time has come to move on,” one leader said.
Attendance lagged in the comeback season, as the challenges posed by the coronavirus persisted. Presenters hope it was just a blip.
The Wu Tsai Theater will honor a $50 million gift from Joseph Tsai, a founder of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, and Clara Wu Tsai, a philanthropist.
The decision will make San Antonio the largest American city without a major orchestra.
The decision will make San Antonio the largest American city without a major orchestra.
As it ended a challenging pandemic return, the Met had one last marathon: a matinee, an evening performance, and then moving out as American Ballet Theater moved in.
After a stronger-than-expected season, the orchestra said it would reverse pay cuts imposed at the height of the pandemic.
Amid a labor battle, the continuing pandemic and war in Ukraine, it often felt as though the real drama was in simply putting on a show.