Overview of the events of 2023 in classical music
This article is for major events and other topics related to classical music in 2023.
Events
- 1 January – At the 2023 Vienna New Year's Concert by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Franz Welser-Möst, the Vienna Girls Choir (Wiener Chormädchen) performs in its first-ever appearance in the concert, the first female choir ever to participate in the event. The Wiener Chormädchen also performed at the 30 December 2022 and 31 December 2022 concerts of the same programme.
- 6 January
- 9 January
- The Royal Albert Hall announces the appointment of James Ainscough as its next chief executive director, effective in the late spring of 2023.
- The Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz announces that Insa Pijanka is to stand down as its Intendantin, earlier than the currently scheduled time of her most recent contract extension through 2024.
- 10 January – The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra announces that Kirill Karabits is to conclude his chief conductorship of the orchestra at the close of the 2023-2024 season.
- 11 January – The Phoenix Symphony Orchestra announces the appointment of Peter Kjome as its next chief executive officer, effective 1 February 2023.
- 12 January – The National Symphony Orchestra announces the appointment of Jean Davidson as its next executive director, effective 1 April 2023.
- 13 January
- The BBC announces the appointment of Sam Jackson as the new controller of BBC Radio 3, effective April 2023.
- The new organ of the NOSPR Concert Hall in Katowice is inaugurated with the world premiere of the Sinfonia concertante of Esa-Pekka Salonen, with Iveta Apkalna as the soloist and the NOSPR conducted by the composer.
- 17 January
- Arts Council England (ACE) announces the presentation to English National Opera (ENO) of a one-year grant of £11.46M for the period of April 2023–March 2024, following its previous November 2022 announcement of a total withdrawal of ACE's funding to ENO for the period 2023-2026 unless ENO relocates outside of London.
- The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra announces the appointment of Matthew Kraemer as its next music director, effective with the 2023-2024 season.
- The Hawai'i Symphony Orchestra announces the appointment of Dane Lam as its first-ever music director, effective with the 2023-2024 season, with an initial contract of 5 years.
- 23 January – The Orchestre de chambre de Paris announces the appointment of Jörn Tews as its next general director.
- 25 January
- 28 January – A news report in NRC Handelsblad states that:
New works
- George Alexander Albrecht – Cello Concerto
- Anna Clyne – Weathered (clarinet concerto)
- Justin Dello Joio – Oceans Apart (Concerto for Piano and Orchestra)
- James Lee III – Visions of Cahokia
- Reinaldo Moya – Rise (for cello and orchestra)
- Elizabeth Ogonek – Moondog
- Shawn Okpebholo – Songs in Flight (texts selected by Tsitsi Ella Jaji)
- Kevin Puts – Concerto for Orchestra
- Damien Ricketson – Hectic Tulips
- Esa-Pekka Salonen – Sinfonia concertante for organ and orchestra
- Rick van Veldhuizen – Magyar újrakeverés
New operas
- Gelsey Bell – mɔɹnɪŋ [morning//mourning]
- David Lang – note to a friend (adapted from texts by Ryunosuke Akutagawa)
- Emma O'Halloran and Mark O;Halloran:
- Vito Žuraj and Händl Klaus – Blühen
Deaths
- 2 January
- Andrew Downes, British composer and pedagogue, 72
- Kurt Horres, German stage director and opera house administrator, 90
- 8 January – Siegfried Kurz, German conductor, 92
- 9 January
- Yoriaki Matsudaira, Japanese composer, 91
- Charles ('Chas') Wetherbee, American violinist and pedagogue, 56
- Magnar Mangersnes, Norwegian choral conductor and organist, 84
- 10 January – José Evangelista, Spanish composer and pedagogue resident in Canada, 79
- 18 January - Clytus Gottwald, German choral conductor, composer, musicologist, and theologian, 97
- 26 January - Angelina Ruzzafante, Dutch soprano, 57