The Long, LONG Arc of History

With the debut of Margaret Ruthven Lang’s Dramatic Overture in 1893, the world changed: never before had an orchestral work composed by a woman been performed on the American stage.  The intervening 119 years have brought monumental social change, much of it due...

The Verdict is In!

There has been a recent buzz about the list of the world’s top symphonies that Gramophone has put together. It seems to have taken many classical music enthusiasts by surprise that the top American orchestra (listed as number five) is the Chicago Symphony. The...