2011 in classical music explained

Events

February – The Juilliard String Quartet receives the NARAS Lifetime Achievement Award for its outstanding contributions to recorded classical music.
May 12 – The Classical Brit Awards are presented by Myleene Klass at London's Royal Albert Hall.

New works

Kalevi Aho – Trumpet Concerto
Elliott Carter – Two Controversies and a Conversation^[1]
Julius Dobos – Hymn to The Fukushima 50
Francesco Filidei – Ballata, for organ, ensemble and live electronics
Philip Glass – Symphony No. 9
Mehdi Hosseini – Monodies
Iamus (computer) – Hello World!
Wojciech Kilar –
- Lumen for mixed a cappella choir
- Piano Concerto No. 2
Paul Mealor – Ubi Caritas et Amor
Per Nørgård – Symphony No. 8
Christopher Rouse
- Prospero's Rooms^[2]
- Symphony No. 3^[3]
Steven Stucky – Silent Spring^[4]

Opera premieres

Date	Opera	Composer	Theatre
17 February	Anna Nicole	Mark-Anthony Turnage	Royal Opera House
18 March	Kommilitonen!	Peter Maxwell Davies	Royal Academy of Music
26 March	Risorgimento!	Lorenzo Ferrero	Teatro Comunale Modena^[5]
April	The Importance of Being Earnest	Gerald Barry	Los Angeles Philharmonic (concert performance)
9 & 10 April	Sonntag aus Licht	Karlheinz Stockhausen	Staatenhaus of the Kölner Messe (auspices of the Cologne Opera)
13 April	The Juniper Passion	Michael F. Williams	Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts, University of Waikato
9 June	Rockland the Opera	Jukka Linkola	Nivala Ice Arena, Finland
24 June	Two Boys	Nico Muhly	English National Opera
1 July	Dr Dee	Damon Albarn	Palace Theatre, Manchester, 2011 Manchester International Festival
30 July	Mansfield Park	Jonathan Dove	Boughton House
11 September	Manifest Destiny 2011	Keith Burstein	King's Head Theatre, London
15 October	One Night Stand	Olli Kortekangas	Helsinki Music Centre
1 November	Heart of Darkness	Tarik O'Regan	Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House
12 November	Silent Night	Kevin Puts	Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, Saint Paul, Minnesota
31 December	The Enchanted Island	Handel, Vivaldi, Rameau	Metropolitan Opera

Albums

Nicola Benedetti – Italia
Andrea Bocelli –
Joseph Calleja – The Maltese Tenor
Jackie Evancho – Dream With Me
Wynne Evans – A Song In My Heart
Angela Gheorghiu – Homage to Maria Callas
Katherine Jenkins – Daydream
Miloš Karadaglić – The Guitar
Oregon Symphony – Music for a Time of War
André Rieu & the Johann Strauss Orchestra – Moonlight Serenade

Musical films

Violin

Deaths

January 24 – Bhimsen Joshi, Indian classical vocalist, 88
January 28 – Dame Margaret Price, Welsh operatic soprano, 69
February 2 – Armando Chin Yong, 52, Malaysian opera singer
February 5 – Beatrice Krebs, 86, American mezzo-soprano
February 6 – Per Grundén, 88, Swedish tenor
February 10 – Claus Helmut Drese, 88, German opera manager
February 21 – Antonín Švorc, 77, Czech bass-baritone
February 26 – Eugene Fodor, US violinist, 60
March 13 –, 81, Austrian baritone
March 22 – Victor Bouchard, Canadian pianist and composer, 84
March 28 – Lee Hoiby, 85, American composer and pianist
March 29 – Robert Tear, Welsh operatic tenor and conductor, 72
April 8 – Donald Shanks, 70, Australian bass-baritone
April 8 – Daniel Catán, 62, Mexican composer
April 15 – Vincenzo La Scola, Italian operatic tenor, 53 (heart attack)
May 7 – Jane Rhodes, 82, French soprano/mezzo-soprano
May 30 – Giorgio Tozzi, 88, American bass
July 4 – Gerhard Unger, 95, German tenor
July 6 – Josef Suk, Czech violinist and conductor, 81
July 23 – David Aiken, 93, American baritone
July 26 – Denise Scharley, French operatic contralto, 94
August 1 – Milada Šubrtová, Czech operatic soprano, 87
August 2 – Ralph Berkowitz, US composer and painter, 100
August 3 – Louise Behrend, US violinist and academic, 94
August 25 – Anne Sharp, 94, Scottish coloratura soprano
September 5 – Salvatore Licitra, 43, Italian tenor
September 29 – Vera Veljkov-Medaković, Serbian pianist and piano teacher, 88
October 8 – Ingvar Wixell, Swedish operatic baritone, 80
October 19 – James Yannatos, US composer conductor, violinist and teacher, 82
October 29 – Walter Norris, American pianist and composer, 79
November 22 – Sena Jurinac, Bosnian operatic soprano, 90
November 23 – Montserrat Figueras, Catalan operatic soprano, 70
December 5 – Violetta Villas, Polish coloratura soprano, cabaret star, singer, actress, composer and songwriter, 73
December 8 – Minoru Miki, 81, Japanese composer^[6]