Royal Harpist Claire Jones will welcome Prince William and Catherine Middleton to their reception after the royal couple’s Westminster Abbey wedding on April 29. She tells us about the royal gig.

New York City Opera is facing an “almost certain” work stoppage of its chorus members and production personnel, according to the American Guild of Musical Artists. If it proceeds, it will affect the season's final productions.

Classical music producer Anna Berry will coordinate the recording of the royal wedding on April 29. "The pressure to get this absolutely right will be enormous. The consequences of making a mistake on this one would be so horrible and public and awful."

Ray Chen set himself a certain challenge with the name of his debut album: "Virtuoso." But the 22-year-old Taiwanese-Australian violinist proves his mettle in fiendishly difficult works by Tartini, Wieniawski, Franck and J.S. Bach.

German violin dealer Dietmar Machold lived in an Austrian castle, owned a collection of sports cars and was always impeccably dressed. Over several decades, he allegedly swindled banks, customers and dealers from millions of dollars. It recently all caught up with him.

With two free concerts this weekend, the Detroit Symphony brought to an end a bitter six-month strike that resulted in the cancellation of dozens of performances, the departure of some key musicians and an at times vicious public relations campaign.

Disney's Fantasia used Stokowski's transcription of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565. The piece begins with a more literal visual interpretation, but develops into the abstract. Watch the drama of the tense, building chords unfold with the conductor's arm strokes. Each section of the orchestra get highlighted in shadow before the flowing melodies spawn colorful clouds and fireworks.

New York City Opera finds itself in financial trouble again, postponing announcement of its next season until it completes a full review of its finances and irons out a balanced budget.

Tonight at 7 pm, Trout Week reaches its finale in The Greene Space. The Tokyo will apply its "Paganini Quartet" of matched Stradivarius instruments to works by Haydn, Bartók and Beethoven. Watch the live Webcast at WQXR.org and get our free "catch of the day" download.

The competition among classical musicians to stand out at the Grammy awards just got a little stiffer, as the Recording Academy announced Wednesday it has trimmed the awards categories down from 109 to 78.

Plácido Domingo is sticking with his scheduled concerts this month in Tokyo, despite the recent disasters that have rocked Japan. It comes after some notable interruptions in his performance schedule.

Shoppers at Zabar’s got an unexpected treat with their smoked fish, cheeses and baked goods Wednesday morning. The Escher String Quartet planted itself in front of the fish counter of the Upper West Side food emporium and began playing the first movement of Beethoven’s “Serioso” Quartet. Watch the video and check out some images below:

Upper West Side shoppers got an unexpected treat with their smoked fish, cheeses and baked goods Wednesday morning. The Escher String Quartet planted itself in front of the store's fish counter and began playing Beethoven’s "Serioso" Quartet.

In the WQXR Café, Haimovitz plays on the same 1710 Matteo Gofriller cello that he took with him to the Tractor Tavern in Seattle and the former punk hangout CBGB.

Skittering strings. Large, looping passages. Perfectly eerie little scenes. Such is the sonic landscape in which the JACK Quartet can frequently be found. The adventurous ensemble is in The Greene Space tonight at 7 pm. Tune in for a Webcast at WQXR.org.

Trout Week continues at The Greene Space tonight with Ethel. The group has been a role model for anyone who believes that a string quartet can act and even sound like a rock band. Read more and get a free Catch of the Day download.

In the latest sign of an already turbulent year for American orchestras, the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra has dissolved. The musicians of the ensemble took their final bow together on Saturday night.

Six months after a musician work stoppage shut down the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, bargainers for the musicians and symphony management have reached a tentative deal.

The Ebène Quartet is the rare ensemble that can play Haydn and Debussy with complete command and then shift gears and offer a jazz set of Miles Davis and Chick Corea. See them tonight at 7 pm on a live video Webcast on WQXR.org. Plus, get a free download.