Finnish conductor and composer Leif Segerstam has died aged 80, Finnish media reported today. After studies in violin, piano, composition and conducting at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki 1952-63 he continued with post-graduate studies at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. His initial career as a conductor started with positions in the opera houses of Helsinki, Stockholm, and West Berlin, and guest appearances included the Met, La Scala, Covent Garden, Teatro Colon and the opera houses of Cologne, Hamburg and Munich, Geneva and the Salzburg Festival. Read More →

American composer Miles Walter (*1994) is the Winner of an Open Application position to the Classeek Ambassador Program, Season 2024-2025. He is currently based in London where he is studying with George Benjamin. He is one of the five composers selected for this year’s edition of the Venice Biennale College Musica. He is preparing for his world-première concert at the Venice Biennale. Read More →

This year’s DYNAMIKfest Salzburg (6-12 October) partners with the Swiss Classeek’s Ambassador Programme to present three musicians for their debut in Salzburg, including violinist and composer Elise Bertrand, violist Paul Zientara, and cellist Jeein You. Read More →

Austrian violinist Leonhard Baumgartner won the Eurovision Young Musicians 2024 competition on Saturday evening in the northern Norwegian town of Bodø. He played an abbreviated version of Henri Vieuxtemps’ Violin Concerto No. 5. Second place went to the Swede Hugo Svedberg, followed by Fabian Egger from Germany. Read More →

Austrian violinist Leonhard Baumgartner (*2007), ICMA Discovery Award winner in 2023, just won the Ilona Fehér competition in Budapest. Read More →

Terrible news: Belgian soprano Jodie Devos died, surrounded by family and friends, on June 16, 2024 in Paris at the age of 35, following a bout of breast cancer that forced her to cancel several recent engagements. In 2015, she was Young Artist of the Year of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA). Read More →

Artistic Director Michael Becker, Commercial Director Burkhard Scheuer, Dramaturge Uwe Sommer-Sorgente and Music Educator Lorna Bowden presented the Tonhalle Düsseldorf’s program for the 2024/25 concert season. Read More →

Due to unforeseen circumstances, film director Bruno Monsaingeon was not able to attend the ICMA Award Ceremony in Valencia on 12 April. Now, ICMA President Remy Franck presented the trophy to the winner at his home in Montrouge. Read More →

Deutsche Welle is presenting the ICMA Gala Concert which took place at the Palau de la Musica in Valencia on 12 April in its YouTube Channel. Click here to get the link.
Read More →