Blog

A beacon of hope from Latvia: As Pēteris Vasks turns 80 on April 16, 2026, his iconic violin concerto Tālā gaisma takes center stage. Performed on April 17 in Munich’s Herz-Jesu-Kirche, this "Distant Light" bridges the gap between the struggles of the past and a luminous, harmonious future.

A waltz that defies gravity: On April 9, 2026, the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, conducted by Alpesh Chauhan, brings Joe Hisaishi’s Symphonic Variation “Merry-go-round + Cave of Mind” to Manchester. This music from the Ghibli masterpiece Howl’s Moving Castle transforms the cinematic experience into a symphonic journey of pure nostalgia.

How do we listen to jazz and to what extent does what we see influence our musical judgement? In an interview with Schott Music editor Julia Baldauf, Dr Monika Herzig, jazz pianist, bandleader and professor of Artistic Research at the Jam Music Lab in Vienna, discusses deeply ingrained listening and viewing habits, the visibility of women in jazz, and the importance of role models in jazz education. Herzig also talks about the European project ‘New Standards from Europe’,  the promotion of female jazz composers, and tackles the question of how greater diversity and participation can bring about lasting change in the jazz scene.

As a piano teacher I frequently ask new students who are their favourite jazz pianists, or even just to name a jazz musician they enjoy listening to. It's noticeable that many of the revered jazz players of the past (and present) are very often men. 

It can seem that either there weren’t very many women jazz musicians, or that they have been side-lined or ignored. This is a situation that was very familiar in the 19th century art world, when the profession of artist was not considered suitable for a woman, with female painters being denied admission to academies and prevented from exhibiting their work.

As part of the JAZZ PIANO LIBRARY series of podcasts for Morley Radio I’ve recorded three programmes about Women Jazz Pianists, with fellow pianist Joy Ellis as my guest and co-presenter. Over the course of these we've played recordings by pianists dating from the 1920s to the 2020s – the whole history of recorded jazz.

A 400-year-old musical circle is finally closing. Dobrinka Tabakova’s In paradisum provides a long-awaited epilogue to Victoria’s 1605 Requiem. Premiering on March 31, 2026, in London with the ORA Singers and Suzi Digby, this piece transforms ancient chant into a shimmering choral mirage.

Richard Wagner's Das Rheingold takes center stage this March. With major premieres at the Salzburg Easter Festival and in Meiningen, the musical world is looking toward a new era of interpretation. Thanks to Schott’s Richard Wagner Complete Edition, Wagner’s epic prologue sounds as accurate and authentic as the composer originally intended.

Poetry finds its way into music in all sorts of ways, from composers setting verses directly to music, to instrumental works inspired by poetic imagery and ideas. It’s an adaptable art form, capable of expressing the most intimate emotions as well as vast, philosophical landscapes.

A deeply personal world premiere: Fazıl Say’s Bosphorus Romance for flute and string orchestra premieres on March 22, 2026, at Munich’s Prinzregententheater. Dedicated to his wife, soloist Aslıhan And Say, the piece captures the shifting moods of Istanbul, from quiet park strolls to high-energy traditional dances.

A musical manifesto reimagined for a grand stage: Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated makes its orchestral world premiere on March 12, 2026. Andrew Norman sets the tone with the crucial opening, Theme and First Variation, leading a star-studded collective of composers at the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel.

Bernard Rands, the distinguished British composer long resident in the USA, most recently in Chicago, has died there on March 4, 2026, at the age of 92 in the company of his wife Augusta Read Thomas, herself a prominent composer. He leaves behind a catalogue of nearly 100 pieces, widely performed and recorded, all published by Schott, as well as an enormous and varied list of students.