Jeff Brown kicks things off this week with an interview with Ilan Volkov, discussing his recent arrest at an anti-war protest near the Gazan border, his hopes to capture the momentum from his recent viral post-proms speech, and him refusing to work to work in Israel. van-magazine.com/mag/ilan-vol...

@vanmusicmag.bsky.social has given me permission to be frothingly horny on main about two dead tenors van-magazine.com/mag/best-int...

This week in VAN 💌 Hartmut Welscher writes about the broader German classical music scene’s selective outrage and selective empathy in the wake of Lahav Shani and the Munich Philharmonic being disinvited from a performance at the Flanders Festival: van-magazine.com/mag/lavah-sh...

New in VAN this week: Maddie Lay and Andrew Raynes review Vache Baroque’s production of André Campra’s 1699 opera-ballet "Le Carnaval de Venise", and determine just how baroque this vache really is. Baroque opera? In MY circus tent? It’s more likely than you think. van-magazine.com/mag/vache-ba...

Are you hungry for some investigative reporting? Well we're here to sate your desire with two new reports this week:

Hi Dolls! VAN is back with two new posts for all you Wagner Heads out there: Kate Wagner (@katewagner.wehwalt.net) reviews a production of Melly Still’s “Die Walküre” at Santa Fe Opera, which was worth overcoming cynicism and risking acute desert hypoxia to see: van-magazine.com/mag/die-walk...

saw die Walküre in the desert and wrote a review of it for @vanmusicmag.bsky.social van-magazine.com/mag/die-walk...

My thoughts on Bayreuth’s upcomingAI Ring Cycle, for @vanmusicmag.bsky.social van-magazine.com/mag/bayreuth...

My Darmstadt 25 review is in @vanmusicmag.bsky.social. 'Situations' are audience agency, censorship, David Tudor, distracted listening, Hannes Seidl, healing sounds, hybrid formats, immediacy, instagrammable art, Maryanne Amacher, neoliberalism, spatial arrangements van-magazine.com/mag/darmstad...

VAN is back with 2 new essays: Marat Ingeldeev covers Darmstadt 2025, including rumblings over censorship of a piece with pro-Palestine slogans, navigating issues on trendy marketing, and the potential successes and pitfalls of multi-sensory performance situations. van-magazine.com/mag/darmstad...

Today's issue is the final one before our summer vacation, and we have two essays on music and place. First, here's Samantha Rosenthal on Copland's "Appalachian Spring" van-magazine.com/mag/copland-...

In VAN, on the embarrassing actions of Oliver Mears, and the hypocrisy of the RBO van-magazine.com/mag/oliver-m...

New in VAN 💌 “His tragedy lies not in a single fall, but in the prolonged effort to persist.” A new opera on the life of Walter Benjamin opens in Barcelona van-magazine.com/mag/benjamin...

In VAN today 💌 The Architecture of Bodies: An interview with Ted Huffman van-magazine.com/mag/ted-huff...

In VAN today 💌 Solidarity When It Suits: Oliver Mears, Director of The Royal Opera, tried and failed to take down a Palestine flag on stage. Then came the distraction tactics, and the hypocrisy. van-magazine.com/mag/oliver-m...

In VAN today ✉️ Through her “Alan” project, lyricist, philanthropist and controversial former surgeon Susan Lim puts forward her ideas about transhumanism. Does the UK’s classical music scene have the strength to push back? van-magazine.com/mag/a-call-t...

In VAN today Ahead of an appearance at the First Night of the Proms, Canadian bass-baritone Gerald Finley speaks to J.R. Patterson about the psychology of acting in opera van-magazine.com/mag/gerald-f...

In VAN today Ahead of an appearance at the First Night of the Proms, Canadian bass-baritone Gerald Finley speaks to J.R. Patterson about the psychology of acting in opera van-magazine.com/mag/gerald-f...

In VAN today ✉️ Through her “Alan” project, lyricist, philanthropist and controversial former surgeon Susan Lim puts forward her ideas about transhumanism. Does the UK’s classical music scene have the strength to push back? van-magazine.com/mag/a-call-t...

"Derren Brown sat in a Perspex box for 44 days. Sir Ranulph Fiennes crossed Antarctica on foot. When one isn’t athletically gifted, one’s endurance stunts must take a different form. So I listened to every recording of 'Parsifal' on Spotify." van-magazine.com/mag/every-pa...

On the musical importance of lullabies van-magazine.com/mag/lullabies/

In VAN today 🏹 • Jordan Silversmith on lullabies • Maddie Lay listens to all 31 recordings of "Parsifal" on Spotify, and ranks them all for your reading pleasure • A BarTálk by Hugh & Ben on "The Protecting Veil" at Spitalfields Music Festival van-magazine.com/mag/lullabies/

In VAN this week: The Komische Oper says every euro is a struggle. How careful are its leaders being with its funding? Hartmut Welscher and Merle Krafeld report on the use and alleged misuse of public funds by the house. van-magazine.com/mag/komische...

In VAN this week: The Komische Oper says every euro is a struggle. How careful are its leaders being with its funding? Hartmut Welscher and Merle Krafeld report on the use and alleged misuse of public funds by the house. van-magazine.com/mag/komische...

Wie sorgfältig geht die Leitung der Komischen Oper Berlin mit öffentlichen Geldern um? van-magazin.de/mag/komische...

Tatsiana Khomich, sister of the imprisoned Belarusian activist and flutist Maria Kalesnikava, on the diplomacy that may allow her to finally come free van-magazine.com/mag/tatsiana...

Sitarist and composer Jasdeep Singh Degun on his new work, "Into the Night" van-magazine.com/mag/jasdeep-...

"He has recorded cremations and autopsies, volcanic vibrations and melting glaciers, the sounds of war, disease, and massed human waste, and some of the world’s most contested—not to say, most highly militarized—border walls." An interview with Jacob Kirkegaard van-magazine.com/mag/jacob-ki...

New in VAN 👇 van-magazine.com/mag/jacob-ki...

A classical music word jail 🙅 van-magazine.com/mag/classica...

One of our most read pieces in recent times, Hannah Edgar went long on the crisis at the San Francisco Symphony van-magazine.com/mag/san-fran...

Recently in VAN, Carmen Paddock on going the distance for opera, Samantha Rosenthal on Wendy Carlos, and Ty Bouque grapples with Richard Barrett Subscribe below 💌 van-magazine.com/mag/long-dis...

I made a few bad travel choices in the name of opera, and then I wrote about them (with many thanks to my interviewees)

New in VAN 🌀 "We are overdue for a reappraisal of the merits and morasses of complexity." Ty Bouque profiles the composer Richard Barrett van-magazine.com/mag/richard-...

New in VAN 🎹 A Wendy Carlos Playlist: Samantha Rosenthal goes in search of the enigmatic synth pioneer van-magazine.com/mag/wendy-ca...

New in VAN 🛣️ How far would you travel for a performance? @carmenchloie.bsky.social investigates van-magazine.com/mag/long-dis...

Alfred Brendel (5 January 1931—17 June 2025) van-magazine.com/mag/keyboard...

This weekend saw the final concerts of Esa-Pekka Salonen as music director of the San Francisco Symphony, after a turbulent past few years for the organization. Hannah Edgar has been reporting on the case for the past year—read it here van-magazine.com/mag/san-fran...

Also in VAN this week, Hugh Morris has the latest on the Northern Ballet Sinfonia, and classical music racial equity consultant Quodesia Johnson speaks to brin solomon about the state of her work amid a backlash against DEI. van-magazine.com

"We are in San Francisco, in 2025, and the city is eating itself." In today's issue, Hannah Edgar has a major new report into the turmoil at the San Fransisco Symphony. van-magazine.com/mag/san-fran...

"This is the crime of our generation." Michael Barenboim on Israel-Gaza, and his activism for Palestinians van-magazine.com/mag/michael-...

The Dissolving of the Line: Marat Ingeldeev heads to Musik Installationen Nürnberg van-magazine.com/mag/musik-in...

The Dissolving of the Line: Marat Ingeldeev heads to Musik Installationen Nürnberg van-magazine.com/mag/musik-in...

"This is the crime of our generation." Michael Barenboim on Israel-Gaza, and his activism for Palestinians van-magazine.com/mag/michael-...

Some of y'all can't handle 2 high agency males going at it and it really shows

Breaking: per Arts Not Arms on Instagram, Kings Place will now not host the Defence in Space conference. Yesterday, Hugh Morris reported on the recent controversy. van-magazine.com/mag/kings-pl...

seeing the glass half full: i was sure @vanmusicmag.bsky.social was starting a “Weird Al” (as in Yankovic) “Moment of the Week” in their newsletter. instead, frightening instances of inhumanity

Interview in @vanmagazin.bsky.social about Palestine, Gaza, activism, including the silence of our classical music industry (in DE and EN): van-magazine.com/mag/michael-... van-magazin.de/mag/michael-...

VAN 406, in inboxes now 📧 • Michael Barenboim on his pro-Palestine activism—and the silence of the classical music industry • Kings Place, Lockheed Martin and ethics • Musik Installationen Nürnberg in review van-magazine.com/mag/michael-...