The priority must be far fewer forces to produce a coherent national structure

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York faces the possibility of tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue if a lawsuit over its allegedly misleading admissions policy succeeds.

There are some things in life for which you just can't plan. The all-male operatic-pop vocal group Il Divo was manufactured by Simon Cowell in 2004.

Thanks to this original biography, we see a great artist from a new angle, and in extra depth

After withdrawing from the Bayreuth Wagner Festival last month following the appearance of a tattoo during a program broadcast on German television, Russian bass-baritone Evgeny Nikitin now says the image was not a swastika.

The character singer Charles Anthony, who set the record for most appearances at the Metropolitan Opera – 2,928 – during a career that spanned from 1954 to 2010, died on 15 February at the age of 82.

It is a sorry state of affairs when an opera company resorts to locking out its own performers – and the once vibrant and innovative New York City Opera (NYCO) is looking like barely a rump of its former self.

A restrospective of the late British fashion designer, Alexander McQueen, has become the most popular fashion exhibition ever to be held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Oft dubbed the Oscars of the fashion industry, the annual Met Ball was this year a particularly flamboyant affair. The gala dinner traditionally held to launch a major show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute this year celebrated Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, a retrospective of the late British designer's work.

In Britain it ended in freezing temperatures and weeks of snow and ice. Globally, though, 2010 was still the second warmest year on record, according to Met Office scientists who yesterday reaffirmed that the world is continuing to get warmer.

Tobias Picker, 56, is an award-winning American composer whose work has been performed by the world's leading orchestras and opera houses. In addition to his symphonic and chamber music, song cycles and concertos , he has written four operas, including 'An American Tragedy' and children's opera 'Fantastic Mr Fox'. He lives in New York