Classical Music

Classical Music’s Spring issue brings you features focusing on the classical artists embracing the pop scene, the organisations loaning top-shelf instruments to top-quality artists, and the trustees working behind the scenes to support the UK’s culture sector.

This week, I have been busy with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) team finalising plans for our 2026-27 season, which we’ll be announcing later this Spring. This comes at a time when our national market research reveals that the percentage of people in the UK that want to discover orchestral music has reached its highest level in six years. Set against a context of economic hardship and geo-political uncertainty, this enduring and upward trend for classical music is hugely inspiring.

Despite some excellent progress in recent years, gender equality in opera and classical music remains a significant issue. In some respects, the policy and culture debate on equality is looking down the wrong end of the telescope: female artists don’t need a greater share of a man’s world; they need to be understood and celebrated for who they are – and on their own terms. One of the biggest factors shaping many women’s creative and career pathways is motherhood.

‘If you want to get close to the true soul of America throughout its cultures and its epochs, I think your first step should be to understand the songs of our people: you cannot hear or sing them without having a pretty damn heavy heart sometimes, but they make democracy audible.’ American baritone Thomas Hampson is embarking on an enormous undertaking: a year of extensive events celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States.

Music Technology: Inspiration and advice for the classroom will take place online on the afternoons of 20 and 21 May. Chaired by Kate Rounding, director of Technology in Music Education UK (TiME), the conference will explore how music tech provision is supported and sustained, and, as part of this, Capital Grant funding, partnership models, and developments in adaptive digital instruments. The event aims to help educators make informed decisions about equipment and best practice.

Upcoming, 28 March. A concert in a tastefully converted non-conformist chapel (with exceptional acoustics) in the small Suffolk town of Woodbridge. The performer, Scottish-Indian guitarist Samrat Majumder. The event raises funds for the Young Classical Artists Trust, the not-for-profit management company that assists emerging musicians in the often-tricky transition from high level training to the beginnings of a successful career.

This article was originally published in our Winter 2024 issue. Click here to subscribe to our quarterly print magazine and be the first to read our March 2026 issue features. In 2013, the spacecraft Voyager 1 exited our solar system and became the first human-made object to enter interstellar space – carrying with it a 12-inch gold-plated copper disc of music by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Chuck Berry, Stravinsky, and Louis Armstrong. This is the conundrum of being homo sapiens.

For centuries, classical music has been described only as ‘Western music’ by the major European institutions, venues and the conservatoires, but the African Concert Series at Wigmore Hall, now in its eighth season, has demonstrated that African classical music can stand alongside and share the stage with the greatest European composers.

This article was originally published in our Summer 2024 issue. Click here to subscribe to our quarterly print magazine and be the first to read our March 2025 issue features. ‘Progress’ is a loaded word. On the one hand, it carries notions of forward motion, development and improvement: we expect technological advances to make our lives smoother, to transport us from one place to another more easily, or to allow us to complete a task more quickly.

York Early Music Festival launches 50th season Florence Lockheart Thursday, February 26, 2026 The anniversary programme will run from 3 to 11 July, centred around the theme of ‘Beyond Borders’ Register now to continue reading Don’t miss out on our dedicated coverage of the classical music world. Register today to enjoy the following benefits: Unlimited access to news pages Free weekly email newsletter Free access to two subscriber-only articles per month Register for free Already registered?