Since being appointed Co-Artistic Directors of the Summer Music Residency program at Banff Centre commencing 2017, Claire Chase and Steven Schick have gone back to the drawing board with a totally redesigned summer classical music program.

The 24-year-old Chooi has spent the last few years polishing his craft at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and now at the Juilliard School. He has already begun a concert career, interspersed with competition entries.

Who wouldn't like to a free ticket to see an opera? The Canadian Opera Company has confirmed it will be included as part of in Institute for Canadian Citizenship’s (ICC) Cultural Access Pass program.

When the Duke of Mantua turns to the audience to sing, there are glittery showgirls in attendance around him. How fun. While the Duke is a young Frank Sinatra, Rigoletto, his unhappy jester, is sort of a Don Rickles or Milton Berle.

John Terauds

I am upset about Monday’s liberally-leaked announcement that the Canadian Opera Company has commissioned Rufus “Prima Donna” Wainwright and playwright Daniel MacIvor to write Hadrian, a new opera for the 2018-19 season.

What does it take to pull together an improvising string quartet? From what I’ve learned sitting in on the rehearsals for Ron Davis’s three Symphronica concerts at Lula Lounge — the first of which took place Sunday evening — it takes a combination of serious musicianship, affinity for different musical traditions, and an open collaborative spirit.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra breaks a 20-year absence in Canada this March with a two-city tour to Montreal and Toronto.

Zuill Bailey with Manuel de Falla’s ghost last summer, making a recording. Zenph Photo.

I cringe whenever I play into someone else’s marketing game, but I can’t help sharing these dogs’ performance: