As medici.tv’s Chief Content Officer I spend a lot of time thinking about classical music—and a lot of time on the internet. Here’s my selection of the top five news items you need to see this week if you want to stay in the know.
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Daniel Harding named next Music Director of the LA Phil (LA Times)
British conductor and commercial airline pilot Daniel Harding was named the next Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic this week. Harding follows in the footsteps of maestros Gustavo Dudamel and Esa-Pekka Salonen, who remain members of the orchestra’s artistic team. He will begin a 6-year tenure in the fall of 2027.
Here’s Harding alongside another fantastic ensemble, the Orchestre de Paris, in 2016:
Marin Alsop goes mainstream on US talk show (Operawire)
Conductor Marin Alsop was a guest on widely-watched American talk show the Kelly Clarkson Show this week, speaking about her trailblazing career as the first female conductor to lead a major orchestras in a number of different countries, and her efforts to inspire and advocate for the next generation of women on the podium. She also shares a charming anecdote about why the role of the conductor appealed to her as a young violinist who had trouble sitting still…
Profile: countertenor and Opera Philadelphia director Anthony Roth Costanzo (NYT)
Anthony Roth Constanzo is one of the most fascinating figures in contemporary classical music, inspiring for both his work on the stage, as one of the world’s leading countertenors, and in the wings as an arts administrator. As he recounts in this New York Times profile, when he started his tenure as Music Director of Opera Philalphia in 2024, the company was constantly teetering around 3 weeks away from bankruptcy. Through creative fundraising, new approaches to outreach and ticket sales (including a much mediatized “Pick Your Price” model), Constanzo is exploring how to create a financially stable model for opera in the twenty-first century.
Opera meets high adrenaline stunts in Toronto
Here’s a fun and unexpected news item from my hometown: to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Toronto’s iconic CN Tower and the 20th anniversary of the Canadian Opera Company’s primary venue, the Four Seasons Center for the Performing Arts, soprano Emily Rocha took to the skies for a truly unique performance of “O mio bambino caro” 356m above ground…
Leo Woodhall on learning piano to star in Tuner (Classic FM)
Actor Leo Woodhall spoke with Classic FM this week about his new film Tuner, released just this weekend. Woodhall plays a classical pianist forced to give up his performing career to train as a piano tuner under expert Dustin Hoffmann, before ultimately discovering he has an unexpected talent for cracking safes. Early reviews are calling it a compelling, darkly comic heist, with several highlighting the use of jazz and classical excerpts in the soundtrack.
