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.
Igor Levit preparing for an “extreme pianist endurance event” in London next week (The Guardian)
Next week, Igor Levit will tackle a challenge few pianists have dared before him: a solo performance of Satie’s Vexations, a 16-hour marathon that will see him play a short, roughly 1.5min musical piece 840 times in a row. This will be Levit’s second time performing Vexations; the first was livestreamed from an empty room during one of the COVID lockdowns in 2020. This performance in front of a live audience was crafted in collaboration with celebrated performance artist and close friend Marina Abramović. Speaking to The Guardian, Levit shared his advice for audience members: “But I would encourage people to just literally let it go. There is no agenda in this piece. There is no meaning to it. It’s just empty space, so just dive into that and let go.”
A harpist’s challenging and rewarding quest to expand her instrument’s repertoire (The New York Times)
In an op-ed in The New York Times this week, harpist Parker Ramsey recounted a decade of experience advocating for new additions to repertoire—an admirable goal that of course requires astounding amounts of practice and courage (tackling new commissions is not for the faint of heart!), but also considerable diplomacy just to convince composers to write for an intimidating instrument few know well. As Ramsey writes, “The harp has a remarkably small footprint in the field… When was the last time you went to a harp show? Could you conceive of a world in which a harp work occupies your attention like an opera or a violin concerto?”
The 2025 Cliburn Competition competitors announced (Cliburn)
The 30 talented young pianists who will compete for one of classical music’s biggest prizes at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition this spring have just been announced. This year’s winner will have big shoes to fill as they follow in the footsteps of reigning champion Yunchan Lim, whose commanding victory in 2022 has already propelled him into international stardom. Here at medici.tv, we’re thrilled to once again stream the full Van Cliburn International Piano Competition live worldwide.
Yunchan Lim’s gold medal-winning performance of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 at the XVI Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
A mainstream magazine debates the very definition of classical music (The Atlantic)
American composer Matthew Aucoin published a thinkpiece this week arguing that it’s time to rethink the very definition of what we call classical music. Aucoin believes we should highlight above all the creative process behind the music: “What links Hildegard von Bingen and Kaija Saariaho, Johann Sebastian Bach and George Benjamin, is not a specific sound or aesthetic but a shared technology of transmission. At its core, classical music isn’t ‘classical.’ It is written music.” It’s a controversial take that’s sure to spark debate in the classical community—and potentially elsewhere, given The Atlantic’s widespread readerbase—come back next week to see if anyone picks up the mic!
Lang Lang launches Music Heals initiative (The Standard)
Star pianist Lang Lang is spearheading a new initiative to bring music to UK children facing significant health challenges. In collaboration with mental health charity Place2Be, the Royal College of Music, and the Performance Science Department of Imperial College, the Music Heals program will focus on bereavement, hospice care, and mental health at first. This is Lang’s second initiative combining music and health, following a project in China working with children with autism and visual impairments.
