News

This month brings the final publications in the newly revised and corrected edition of all 15 Shostakovich symphonies, bearing fruit from the merging of publishers Boosey & Hawkes and Sikorski. The four scores, released to complete the set, range from experimental early Soviet symphonies to Shostakovich’s late, great song-symphony exploring themes of mortality.

The virtual reality opera From Dust by Michel van der Aa, premiered in Rotterdam last December, has been selected for the Immersive Competition at the Cannes Film Festival 2025 and is also presented at the Holland Festival in June.

La Biennale di Venezia has awarded Meredith Monk the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement of Biennale Musica 2025.

Lera Auerbach’s new orchestral work Frozen Dreams receives its world premiere with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck in June.

In its 25th anniversary year, The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace has reached the highest ever position for a work by a living composer in the Classic FM Hall of Fame; its arrival in at number two marks it as Britian’s favourite piece of contemporary classical music for the third year in a row.

Sokolovic’s You Can Die Properly Now receives its world premiere with soprano Emma Pennel and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal in May.

Anne Akiko Meyers premieres Eric Whitacre’s The Pacific Has No Memory this spring, including a performance at Carnegie Hall on May 17.

Composer Sofia Gubaidulina died on 13 March, aged 93, prompting obituaries, tributes and homages to the great Russian composer.

Benjamin Britten’s pacifist masterpiece continues to offer a powerful reflection on the horrors of war with notable performances in Tel Aviv, Kyiv and Hiroshima. Coming months mark 80 years since the end of World War II and 2026 is the 50th anniversary of Britten’s death.

Composer Grace-Evangeline Mason returns to the woodland glades for her new song cycle The Hart, following the success of her orchestral work The Imagined Forest. Ryan Wigglesworth conducts the premiere on 5 June with soprano Sophie Bevan and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

Boosey & Hawkes | Sikorski continues its series of web videos with conductor Marin Alsop discussing the music of Dmitri Shostakovich in his 50th anniversary year.

The 75th birthday of Bill Whelan is marked in May and the composer discusses his classic Riverdance, touring internationally in its 30th anniversary year. The double celebrations also see publication releases and concert performances, including the premiere of a new Concerto for Orchestra.

The Hamburg State Opera presents the world premiere of Unsuk Chin’s new opera Dark Side of the Moon on 18 May. Kent Nagano is on the rostrum for the five performances and the staging is by the theatre collective Dead Centre.

Nonesuch Record’s newly released Steve Reich Collected Works box set spans 60 years of Reich’s music, from early tape works to first recordings of recently premiered scores including Jacob's Ladder and Traveler's Prayer.

Composer Christopher Tin has won acclaim through his music for the Civilization series, including the first ever GRAMMY for a video game score. With the latest Civilization VII released, he discusses the challenges and rewards of writing music for games and how this can overlap with composition for the concert hall.

The Armed Man is performed at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 7 June, celebrating 25 years since the premiere of this much-loved work. Other Karl Jenkins highlights in 2025 include a new BBC commission to be premiered on Radio 3 and the first complete performance in Wales of One World at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod.

Explore works from the Boosey & Hawkes and Sikorski catalogues inspired by the iconic example of Ludwig van Beethoven. Read work notes outlining the Beethoven connections for programmers, conductors and performers and listen to our playlist.

This spring, John Adams takes the podium at the Metropolitan Opera to conduct his 2022 Shakespearean opera, Antony and Cleopatra. Directed by Elkhanah Pulitzer, the production features Adams champions Julia Bullock and Gerald Finley in the title roles.

Boosey & Hawkes | Sikorski is sad to announce the passing of Sofia Gubaidulina, the grande dame of contemporary classical music, aged 93 at her home near Hamburg.

International Women’s Day on Saturday 8 March brings concerts and broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 featuring music by Olga Neuwirth, Sofia Gubadulina and Ethyl Smyth.