Classical
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Apple Music is ready for its long-awaited dive into classical music, with a standalone app. Announced Thursday (March 9), Apple Music Classical is pitched as the “ultimate classical experience,” and is said to be years in the making.
The app will invite classical fans to stream hundreds of curated playlists and thousands of exclusive albums, plus view exclusive artworks and digital portraits, browse composer biographies, editorial notes and more. AMC launches on March 28 but is available to “pre-order” now in the App Store.
Apple Music subscribers will be able download and use Apple Music Classical at no additional cost to their plan. While it’ll be a standalone app, only Apple Music subscribers will have access to it.
At launch, the service will boast the world’s “largest classical music catalog” with over 5 million tracks and works from new releases to recognized masterpieces, according to a statement.
The app’s search engine can locate recordings by composer, work, conductor, and even catalog number, and audiophiles will be rewarded with “thousands” of recordings rendered in immersive spatial audio.
Apple’s full-on plunge into classical follows the tech giant’s acquisition of Primephonic, the Netherlands-based classical music streaming service, in a deal announced back in Aug. 30, 2021, a precursor to the launch of a dedicated experience for classical music fans, which was tentatively planned for 2022.
“We love and have a deep respect for classical music, and Primephonic has become a fan favorite for classical enthusiasts,” Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and Beats, said at the time. “Together, we’re bringing great new classical features to Apple Music, and in the near future, we’ll deliver a dedicated classical experience that will truly be the best in the world.”
That dedicated classical experience is set to go live later this month everywhere where Apple Music is offered, with the exception of China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan; those regions will follow at an unspecified date, reads a corporate statement. Also coming soon is Apple Music Classical for Android.
The app will be available for all iPhone models running iOS 15.4 or later.
Alan Gilbert agreed Friday (Feb. 17) to a five-year contract extension as chief conductor of the Elbphilharmonie Orchestra in Hamburg, Germany, a deal that runs through the 2028-29 season.
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The New Yorker, who turns 56 on Feb. 23, became the orchestra’s chief conductor the 2019-20 season.
Gilbert also is music director of the Royal Swedish Opera, conductor laureate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.
Gilbert was music director of the New York Philharmonic from 2009-10 through 2016-17. He is a son of former New York Philharmonic violinists Yoko Takebe and Michael Gilbert.
Longtime Los Angeles Philharmonic music and artistic director Gustavo Dudamel will move to the New York Philharmonic in the same role starting in 2026, the NY Phil announced Tuesday (Feb. 7).
Dudamel, who has served as music and artistic director at the LA Phil since 2009 and also currently serves as music director of the Opéra National de Paris and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, will begin a five-year term at the NY Phil starting with the orchestra’s 2026-27 season. He will additionally serve as music director designate during the 2025-26 season.
“Today, above all, I am grateful. I am grateful to the musicians and leadership of the New York Philharmonic as we embark upon this new and beautiful journey together. As the great poet Federico García Lorca said: ‘Every step we take on earth brings us to a new world,’” said Dudamel, adding, “I gaze with joy and excitement at the world that lies before me in New York City.”
Dudamel has guest-conducted 26 concerts at the NY Phil since his debut there in November 2007. He’s slated to return this spring to conduct the orchestra in three performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 from May 19-21, which will mark his first time conducting in the reimagined David Geffen Hall’s Wu Tsai Theater.
“This is a dream come true for our musicians, our audience, and certainly for me,” said NY Phil’s Linda and Mitch Hart president/CEO Deborah Borda in a statement. “The coming together of a great orchestra, a visionary Music and Artistic Director, and our transformed hall promises the richest of futures.”
NY Phil executive director Gary Ginstlin, who will succeed Borda as president/CEO, added, “With Gustavo Dudamel, the Philharmonic is poised for what I believe will be one of the most exciting chapters in its storied history.”
NY Phil principal trumpet Christopher Martin added that the orchestra feels “an extraordinary connection” with Dudamel. “This moment aligns with the unparalleled artistic tradition of this nation’s oldest orchestra,” he continued. “We look forward to sharing our deepening musical relationship with audiences both in our revitalized David Geffen Hall and on tour around the world.”