For gala openers, Renee Fleming’s the diva in demand

When it comes to opening a season, opera’s reigning soprano Renee Fleming is the go-to gal. In previous years, she helped launched classical music seasons in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and this fall, she served as the opening-night attraction for the New York Philharmonic. She also will be the star soloist at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s opening night gala Saturday. It’s all part of another whirlwind season for the highly in-demand Fleming. After Chicago, she returns to the Metropolitan

“Claudio Abbado (b. June 26, 1933), is an Italian…

“Claudio Abbado (b. June 26, 1933), is an Italian conductor. He has held many of the most prestigious positions in the world of classical music, having served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera, and, most recently, principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra from 1989 to 2002, when he retired from the positio

Boulez Wins Kyoto Prize

David Goldman for The New York TimesPierre Boulez conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in March.The French composer and conductor Pierre Boulez will be among the winners of the Kyoto Prize, awarded annually by the Inamori Foundation in Japan to recognize “contributions to the scientific, cultural and spiritual betterment of mankind,” the foundation said in a news release. Mr. Boulez, 84, will be the prize’s laureate in its arts and philosophy category. (Awards are also given