In 2025, the 27-year-old pianist Eric Lu won the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, a contest described by The Washington Post as “the Olympics of classical music.” Lu had first competed in Warsaw in 2015 and returned ten years later

Praised for “extraordinary sensibility and passionate intensity”, London-based pianist Zeju Fan recently presented a sold-out debut recital at St John’s Smith Square in London during an intense summer heatwave, featuring an ambitious and demanding repertoire, including Beethoven‘s Waldstein Sonata, Berg’s

Canadian pianist Kevin Chen gained international recognition after winning first prize at the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition in Budapest in 2021, followed by first prize at the Concours de Genève in 2022. A victory at the Arthur Rubinstein International

August is here, and Bayreuth is in the air. The 2026 festival features the German tenor Klaus Florian Vogt singing in all four parts of The Ring of the Nibelung. Elsewhere, the British-German soprano Sarah Wegener has impressed audiences with

Schubert and Beethoven have no doubt been the pianist Paul Lewis’ core repertoire. After following more than thirty of his concerts, I became curious about his most recent Mozart+ programs. Why pair Mozart’s sonatas with Poulenc’s Improvisations, Debussy’s L’Isle joyeuse,

Music has the remarkable ability to transport listeners into imaginary worlds, and few contemporary composers have done so more successfully than Joe Hisaishi. Best known for his longstanding collaboration with Hayao Miyazaki, Hisaishi has created some of the most memorable

The American cellist Gary Hoffman, who turns 70 in 2026, has followed an unusual career path, and indeed a glorious one. A pupil of the legendary János Starker, he joined the faculty of Indiana University while still in his early

More than three decades ago, the cellist Jian Wang became the first Chinese musician to sign an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. This June, his 11-CD box set is released, including his thoughtful Bach albums, Baroque and Romantic adventures, plus