Guardian Music — Opera's a major strand of this year's Proms festival. Here's some of my highlightsI must declare a soupçon of an interest here: I will be a little involved in the wee festival that starts tonight and will be a classical music soundtrack to the summe... more info

Guardian Music — When I was commissioned to write a piece of musics to open the 2012 proms I was inspired by Beethoven to make something messy, dirty and funWhat constitutes a good concert opener? My favourite is not actually for a concert, but an opera. I love the h... more info

Guardian Music — This week's clip joint rifles through the record collection to find the best scenes with characters forced to face the musicThis week's Clip joint is by James Kipping, a freelance floor runner for film and television. Think you can do better? Email y... more info

Guardian Music — (MPS/Promising Music)In the liner notes to this German-recorded reissue from 1980, free-jazz pianist Alex von Schlippenbach writes about when he first heard Cecil Taylor perform. "Here I could breathe the air from another planet," he recalls. "It may... more info

Guardian Music — Koko, LondonMatthew Ward is set to bid farewell to his cult status. After a decade spent forging a solo career in the cosy backwater of the US alt-country and indie-folk scenes, the singer-songwriter from Portland, Oregon, saw his seventh album, A Wa... more info

Guardian Music — 'Most music is garbage,' argues the minimalist composer, who's equally at home at the Bloc Weekender and London's Royal Festival HallElectronic dance music is no longer a young upstart. This year's Bloc Weekender – a 15,000-capacity rave at London ... more info

Guardian Music — On Saturday 23 June, the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gustavo Dudamel played at London's Southbank Centre. The concert was live-streamed on the Guardian, and is available here to view again on demand until 29 June. In this first half... more info

Guardian Music — Royal Festival Hall, LondonThe youth moniker now laid to rest, the garish jackets left in the drawer together with the grandstanding encores, Dudamel and the Simón Bolívars wore white tie and tails for this first concert of their Southbank residenc... more info

Guardian Music — The Southbank Centre's head of classical music Gillian Moore introduces the three pieces in Saturday 23 June's concert that will be streamed live hereLudwig Van Beethoven: Overture, Egmont (10m)Benjamin Britten: The Young Person's Guide to the Orches... more info

Guardian Music — Raploch, StirlingMidsummer drizzle hung thick over Stirling Castle and an audience of thousands huddled on blankets and sinking camping stools. They came armed with soggy hotdogs and vacuum flasks of tea. They clutched watery ice creams under drippin... more info