2025 in classical music

List of years in classical music
… 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2035 …
Art Archaeology Architecture Literature Music Philosophy Science +...

This article is for major events and other topics related to classical music in 2025.

Events

• 1 January
  • At the 2025 Vienna New Year's Concert, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and Riccardo Muti perform the Ferdinandus-Walzer of Constanze Geiger, the first music by a female composer ever performed in the Vienna Philharmonic's Neujahrskonzert. The orchestra and conductor featured the same Constanze Geiger selection in the 30 December 2024 and 31 December 2024 performances at the Musikverein of the same programme.
  • The new all-female ensemble La Philharmonica gives its inaugural concert at the Ehrbarsaal, Vienna, with a programme of music by Leopoldine Blahetka, Gisela Frankl, Constanze Geiger, Joseph Hellmesberger Jr., Mathilde Kralik, Johann Strauss II, Maria Anna Stubenberg, and Josephine Amann-Weinlich.
• 6 January – The Moab Music Festival simultaneously announces the appointment of Tessa Lark as its next artistic director, and the retirement of its founding directors Michael Barrett and Leslie Tomkins.
• 9 January – The Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra announces the appointment of Martin Rajna as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2026-2027 season, with an initial contract of four seasons.
• 10 January – The Houston Symphony announces the appointment of Gary Ginstling as its next executive director and chief executive officer, effective 3 February 2025.
• 13 January – News reports confirm the destruction of Belmont Music Publishers, the publisher of the works of Arnold Schoenberg, with losses on the order of 100,000 scores and parts, as a result of the Palisades Fire.
• 14 January – Sony Music Entertainment announces its acquisition of Supraphon.
• 15 January
  • The Singapore Symphony Orchestra announces the appointment of Hannu Lintu as its next music director, effective with the 2026–2027 season, with an initial contract of three seasons. In parallel, the orchestra announces that Hans Graf is to stand down as its music director at the close of the 2025–2026 season.
  • The 19th century barge that served as the concert venue for Bargemusic is towed from its long-standing slip at Fulton Ferry Landing for scrappage at Staten Island, after evaluation and judgment that the barge was no longer viable to continue as a concert venue.
• 16 January
  • The Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung announces its 2025 prizes:
    • Sir Simon Rattle is announced as the recipient of the 2025 Ernst von Siemens Music Prize.
    • Ashkan Behzadi, Bastien David and Kristine Tjøgersen are announced as the recipients of the 2025 Ernst von Siemens Composer Prizes.
  • The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra announces the appointment of Robert McGrath as its next executive director and chief executive officer, effective 3 February 2025.
• 17 January – The Seattle Symphony announces the scheduled departure of Krishna Thiagarajan as its president and chief executive director, effective 30 April 2025.
• 24 January
  • Juanjo Mena discloses via social media his diagnosis of early-stage Alzheimer's disease.
  • The Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana announces the appointment of Sir Mark Elder as its next music director, effective 1 September 2025, with an initial contract of two years.
  • The first live performance of selections from the opera Morgiane, with music by Edmond Dédé, takes place at the St. Louis Cathedral (New Orleans), under a joint presentation by Opera Lafayette and OperaCréole.
• 27 January
  • The board of the Basque National Orchestra terminates the contract of Robert Treviño contract as its music director, with immediate effect.
  • The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announces that Deborah Rutter is to stand down as its president at the close of 2025.
  • The Teatro Municipal de Santiago announces the appointment of Paolo Bortolameolli as the new principal conductor of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Santiago, with immediate effect, with a contract through 2028.
• 28 January – On Site Opera announces that it is to cease operations in the winter of 2025.
• 29 January – Opera Australia announces the departure of Fiona Allan as its chief executive officer, with immediate effect.
• 3 February – Opera Lafayette and OperaCréole jointly present the first complete performance of the opera Morgiane by Edmond Dédé at the Lincoln Theatre (Washington, D.C.)
• 4 February
  • The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra announces the appointment of Vanessa Reed as its next chief executive, effective 2 June 2025.
  • New Music USA announces that Vanessa Reed is to stand down as its president and chief executive officer as of 2 May 2025.
• 6 February – Daniel Barenboim discloses via social media his diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.
• 7 February – The 'Joachim-Ma' Stradivarius violin sells for USD $11.25 million at auction at Sotheby's, with proceeds from the sale to benefit a student scholarship programme at the New England Conservatory of Music.
• 10 February – The Kaufman Music Center announces the appointment of Anthony Mazzocchi as its next executive director.
• 12 February – The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra announces the appointment of Marc Albrecht as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2026-2027 season.
• 14 February – The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra announces the appointment of Jean-Marie Zeitouni as its next music director, effective with the 2025-2026 season.
• 18 February – The Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra announces the appointment of Markus Poschner as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2026-2027 season, subject to the settlement of secure funding for the orchestra.
• 24 February – Michael Tilson Thomas announces via his website that his glioblastoma has returned and that he is curtailing his guest-conducting appearances, with his final conducting appearance scheduled for 26 April 2025 in San Francisco.
• 28 February –
  • Christian Tetzlaff announces the cancellation of his planned spring 2025 concert tour of the United States with his string quartet, in protest at US government policies.
  • Graham Parker stands down as chief executive officer of The Louisville Orchestra.
• 4 March – The Aizuri Quartet announces that it is to disband at the close of the 2024-2025 concert season, with its final performance scheduled for 25 April 2025.
• 5 March 
  • The Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie announces the appointment of Marzena Diakun as its next chief conductor, the first female conductor to be named to the post, effective with the 2026-2027 season.
  • The Handel and Haydn Society announces that David Snead is to retire from the posts of president and chief executive officer, effective May 2025.
• 6 March – The Royal Philharmonic Society Awards are announced at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire:
  • Chamber-Scale Composition: Sarah Lianne Lewis – letting the light in
  • Conductor: Kazuki Yamada
  • Ensemble: Paraorchestra
  • Gamechanger: NMC Recordings
  • Impact: Re:Discover Festival – Streetwise Opera
  • Inspiration: Open Arts Community Choir
  • Instrumentalist: Laura van der Heijden
  • Large-Scale Composition: Katherine Balch – whisper concerto
  • Opera and Music Theatre: Death in Venice – Welsh National Opera
  • Series and Events: The Cumnock Tryst
  • Singer: Claire Booth
  • Storytelling: Classical Africa – BBC Radio 3
  • Young Artist: GBSR Duo
• 10 March – The Norwegian Radio Orchestra announces the appointment of Holly Hyun Choe as its next principal conductor, the first female conductor to be named to the post, effective January 2026.
• 13 March 
  • The Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle Weimar announces the appointment of Daniel Carter as its next music director, effective with the 2025–2026 season.
  • The Eugene Symphony announces the appointment of Alex Prior as its next music director, effective with the 2025-2026 season, with an initial contract of four years.
  • The first documented public performance of music from the cantata Sémiramis by Maurice Ravel, the 'Prélude et Danse', is given by the New York Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel at David Geffen Hall, New York City.
• 19 March
  • Sir András Schiff announces the cancellation of his scheduled 2025-2026 concert appearances in the United States, in protest at US government policies.
  • The first performance of a rediscovered 1920 composition by Darius Milhaud, a setting for soprano and seven instruments of a text by Jean Cocteau composed for the birthday of Audrey Parr and found at the residence of Parr's granddaughter Laetitia Jack, takes place at Cardiff University School of Music.
• 1 April – Adrien Perruchon becomes principal conductor of the Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra, the first non-Korean conductor to hold the post.
• 2 April – The municipality of Princeton, New Jersey formally takes ownership of the campus of Westminster Choir College.
• 3 April – The Netherlands Bach Society announces the appointment of Johanna Soller as its next artistic director, the first woman to hold the post, effective 1 May 2025, with an initial contract of five seasons.
• 10 April
  • The London Philharmonic Choir announces the appointment of Madeleine Venner as its chorus director, the first woman to be named to the post, effective with the 2025-2026 season.
  • The Staatstheater Braunschweig announces the appointment of Tobias Wolff as its next Generalintendant (General Director), effective in the autumn of 2026.
• 13 April – The Ukrainian pianist and organist Olena Kohut is killed as a result from a Russian missile attack on Sumy.
• 15 April
  • The Korean National Symphony Orchestra announces the appointment of Roberto Abbado as its new artistic director, effective January 2026, with an initial contract of three years.
  • Opera Colorado announces the appointment of Barbara Lynne Jamison as its next general director and chief executive officer, effective 1 August 2025.
  • Kentucky Opera announces that Barbara Lynne Jamison is to stand down as its general director at the close of the 2024-2025 season.

New works

The following composers' works were composed, premiered, or published this year, as noted in the citation.

A

• John Adams – After the Fall (piano concerto)

• Lara Agar – Suntime Bedtime Moontime

• Dieter Ammann – No Templates (viola concerto)

• Rafael Marino Arcaro - Invention in Language of Child

B

• Sir George Benjamin – 'Interludes and Aria' from Lessons in Love and Violence

C

• Raven Chacon – inscription

D

• Aftar Darvishi - Likoo

E

• Melody Eötvös - Baelō

G

• Nicholas Gawley - Appalachia

H

• Jake Heggie (music) and Gene Scheer (text) - Crossing Borders

L

• Thomas Larcher – returning into darkness (cello concerto)

• Lei Liang – A Book of Time I

M

• Steven Mackey – The Ancestors: ballet in eight tableaux

• Philipp Maintz – jag die hunde zurück! (for six sopranos and six percussionists, after Ingeborg Bachmann)

• David Matthews – Serenade and Tango

• Jessie Montgomery – Chemiluminescence

• Nico Muhly – Doom Painting

N

• Olga Neuwirth – Tombeau II: Hommage à Pierre Boulez

O

• Kris Oelbrandt – Passion of Innocence

P

•  Sepehr Pirasteh – will the mountains sing for me

R

• Joey Roukens – Violin Concerto ('Out of the Deep')

S

• Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini – Enigma

• Nina Shehkar – Accordion Concerto

• Sean Shepherd – Quadruple Concerto (Concerto for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon)

• Thomas Simaku – Catena IV

T

• Conrad Tao – The Hand (for piano and orchestra)

• Christopher Theofanidis – Indigo Heaven (clarinet concerto; composition from 2023) 

• Mark-Anthony Turnage – Sco (guitar concerto)

W

• Jörg Widmann – Cantata in tempore belli

New operas

• Gerald Barry – Salome
• Beat Furrer and Thomas Stangl – Das grosse Feuer
• John Glover and Kelley Rourke – Eat the Document
• Daniel Kessner and Lionelle Hamanaka – The Camp
• Paola Prestini and Magos Herrera – Primero Sueño (text by Juana Inés de la Cruz)
• Eric Tuan (music and text), Emily Jiang and Daryl Ngee Chinn (text) – Echoes of Eureka
• Mark-Anthony Turnage and Lee Hall – Festen
• Michael Wertmüller and Roland Schimmelpfennig – Echo 72

Recordings

• Pierre Boulez – Livre pour quatuor (first recording of full six-movement version, with reconstructed fourth movement completed by Philippe Manoury; Quatuor Diotima)
• Ruth Gipps – Orchestral Works, Vol. 3 (including first recording of her Symphony No. 1)
• Sir Stephen Hough – Piano Concerto ('World of Yesterday') / Partita / Sonata nostalgica (first recordings)
• Wynton Marsalis – Blues Symphony (Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Jader Bignamini))
• Francesco Scarlatti – Daniele (first recording)
• Gregory Spears – Seven Days (first commercial recording)
• Sir Michael Tippett – New Year (first complete recording)
• Errollyn Wallen – 'Orchestral Works'

Deaths

• 1 January
  • Jean-Michel Defaye, French pianist, composer, arranger and conductor, 92
  • Nora Orlandi (Joan Christian), Italian pianist, violinist, soprano and composer, 91
• 2 January – Wilhelm Brückner, German luthier, 92
• 7 January – Ayla Erduran, Turkish violinist, 90
• 9 January – Otto Schenk, Austrian opera director and actor, 94
• 11 January – Mario Klemens, Czech conductor, 88
• 13 January
  • Walter Deutsch, Austrian composer, musicologist, pianist, and radio and television presenter, 101
  • Elgar Howarth, British conductor, composer and trumpeter, 89
• 17 January
  • Mary O'Reilly, American-born orchestral violinist active in The Netherlands, 71
  • Herbert Henck, German pianist, 76
• 18 January – Claire van Kampen, British pianist, composer, arranger, and playwright, 71
• 26 January – Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Japanese conductor, 84
• 30 January – İlhan Usmanbaş, Turkish composer, 104
• 3 February – Paul Plishka, American bass, 83
• 5 February – Hans-Peter Lehmann, German opera director, 90
• 9 February – Edith Mathis, Swiss soprano, 86
• 10 February – Maria Tipo, Italian pianist, 93
• 16 February – Vladimír Válek, Czech conductor, 89
• 20 February – Ilkka Kuusisto, Finnish opera composer, conductor, choirmaster, and organist, 91
• 25 February
  • Simon Lindley, English organist, choirmaster, conductor and composer, 76
  • Ferenc Rados, Hungarian pianist, 90
• 2 March – Dieuwertje Blok, Dutch classical radio presenter, 67
• 13 March – Sofia Gubaidulina, Tatar-Russian composer, 93
• 17 March – Scott Nickrenz, American violist and arts administrator, 87
• 24 March – Alan Cuckston, British harpsichordist, pianist, conductor, and lecturer, 85
• 26 March
  • Leo Boudewijns, Dutch radio presenter and writer on music, 93
  • Nicolas Kynaston, British organist, 83
• 30 March – Enrique Bátiz, Mexican conductor and pianist, 82
• 31 March – John Nelson, American conductor, 83
• 9 April – Roberto Cani, Italian orchestral violinist, 57
• 10 April – Niklas Eklund, Swedish trumpeter, 56
• 14 April
  • Christian Elliott, Canadian cellist, 41 (death announced on this date)
  • Peter Seiffert, German tenor, 71
• 15 April – Joel Krosnick, American cellist and member of the Juilliard String Quartet, 84
• 16 April – Peter Ablinger, Austrian composer, 66

Major awards

2025 Musical America Award Winners

• Artist of the Year: Barbara Hannigan
• Composer of the Year: Jake Heggie
• Instrumentalist of the Year: Víkingur Ólafsson
• Vocalist of the Year: Angel Blue
• Director of the Year: James Robinson

2025 Grammy Awards

• Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance: Rectangles and Circumstance, Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion (Nonesuch)
• Best Choral Performance: Ochre (compositions by Ayanna Woods, George Lewis, Caroline Shaw); The Crossing; Donald Nally, conductor (Navona Records)
• Best Classical Compendium: Gabriela Ortiz – Revolución Diamantina, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel, conductor; Dmitriy Lipay, producer (Los Angeles Philharmonic)
• Best Classical Instrumental Solo: Johann Sebastian Bach - Goldberg Variations; Víkingur Ólafsson (Deutsche Grammophon)
• Best Classical Solo Vocal Album: Beyond the Years — Unpublished Songs of Florence Price; Karen Slack, Michelle Cann (Azica Records)
• Best Instrumental Composition: Pascal Le Boeuf – 'Strands'
• Best Opera Recording: Kaija Saariaho – Adriana Mater; Fleur Barron, Axelle Fanyo, Nicholas Phan, Christopher Purves; San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Symphony Chorus; Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor; Jason O'Connell, producer (SFS Media)
• Best Engineered Album, Classical: Bruckner – Symphony No. 7 / Mason Bates – Resurrexit; Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra; Manfred Honeck, conductor; Mark Donahue and John Newton, engineers; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Reference Recordings)
• Best Orchestral Performance: Gabriela Ortiz – Revolución Diamantina, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel, conductor (Los Angeles Philharmonic)
• Producer of the Year, Classical: Elaine Martone