Events

• January 10 – Richard Dare resigns as president of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, following reports of a prior accusation of a sexual offense in 1996 and of exaggerations of his business accomplishments.^[1]
• January 16 – The Houston Symphony Orchestra announces the appointment of Andrés Orozco-Estrada as its next music director, effective with the 2014–2015 season, with an initial contract of 5 years.^[2]
• February 18 – The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra announces the appointment of Edward Gardner as its next principal conductor, effective with the 2015–2016 season.^[3]
• March 18 – The Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra announces the appointment of Stefan Solyom as its next chief conductor, as of the 2014–2015 season.^[4]
• April 25 – Santa Fe Opera announces the appointment of Harry Bicket as its next chief conductor, effective 1 October 2013.^[5]
• May 19 – James Levine conducts his first concert after an absence of two years, with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.^[6]
• June 22 – American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton wins the "Song Prize" at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition.^[7]
• July 1 – Jaime Martín formally becomes principal conductor of the Gävle Symphony Orchestra.^[8]
• August 20 – The Colorado Symphony Orchestra elevates Andrew Litton from its music advisor to Music Director, with immediate effect.^[9]
• September 7 – American orchestral conductor Marin Alsop becomes the first woman to conduct the Last Night of The Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
• November 29 – The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra announces that Bramwell Tovey is to conclude his tenure as VSO music director after the 2017–2018 season.^[10]
• December 10 – La Scala announced the appointment of Riccardo Chailly as its next music director, effective 1 January 2017 through 31 December 2022.^[11]

New works

• Hans Abrahamsen – Let Me Tell You, for soprano and orchestra
• Mark Adamo – Aristotle
• John Adams – Saxophone Concerto
• Thomas Ades – Totentanz
• Matej Bonin – Mouvements
• Benet Casablancas
  • Tres Interludios, for orchestra
  • Obertura Festiva, for orchestra
• Bryce Dessner – Murder Ballads
• Brian Elias – Once Did I Breathe Another's Breath
• Lorenzo Ferrero – Venice 1976 (A Parody), for flute, clarinet, violin, violoncello, and piano
• Francesco Filidei
  • Ballata No. 3, for piano and ensemble
  • Due Trascrizioni da Merula e Trabaci, for string quartet
  • Poemetto, for ensemble
  • Silence = Death (Democracy), for 4 percussionists
• Graham Fitkin – Panufnik Variations
• Cheryl Frances-Hoad – Katharsis
• Gabriela Lena Frank – Karnavalito No. 1
• Philip Glass
  • String Quartet No. 6
  • Two Movements for Four Pianos
• Edward Gregson – Aztec Dances (concerto for flute and ensemble) (2010)
• Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen – Together or Not
• David Philip Hefti – Éclairs
• Wojciech Kilar – A prayer to St. Therese the Little Flower, for mixed choir a cappella
• Missy Mazzoli – Heartbreaker
• Steve Reich – Radio Rewrite
• Christopher Rouse
  • Symphony No. 4^[12]
  • Thunderstuck^[13]
• Poul Ruders
  • String Quartet No. 4 (2012)
  • Schrödinger's Cat (2012)
• Aulis Sallinen – Five Portraits of Women, Op. 100
• Mark-Anthony Turnage – Speranza
• Ian Venables – The Song of The Severn, Op. 43
• Param Vir – Cave of Luminous Mind
• Judith Weir – Blue-Green Hill (2013)

Opera

• Gerald Barry – The Importance of Being Earnest: premiere staged performance, 17 March 2013, Opéra national de Lorraine, Nancy
• Terence Blanchard – Champion
• Raymond Deane – The Alma Fetish (2012), concert performance, Dublin, National Concert Hall, 17 September 2013^[14]
• Ivan Fischer – The Red Heifer^[15]
• Philip Glass – The Perfect American
• André Tchaikowsky – premiere of The Merchant of Venice at the Bregenz Festival, 18 July (opera written 1968–82)
• Šimon Voseček – Biedermann und die Brandstifter

Albums

• Plácido Domingo – Verdi
• Ludovico Einaudi – In a Time Lapse
• Howard Goodall – Inspired
• Tine Thing Helseth – Tine

Musical films

• A Late Quartet

Deaths

• January 10 – Franz Lehrndorfer, German organist and composer, 84^[16]
• February 3 – Oscar Feltsman, Russian composer, 91^[17]
• February 8 – James DePreist, US conductor, 76^[18]
• February 15 – Antonín Kohout, Czech cellist, member of the Smetana Quartet, 93^[19]
• February 22 – Wolfgang Sawallisch, German conductor and pianist, 89^[20]
• February 27 – Van Cliburn, US pianist, 78^[21]
• February 28
  • William Bennett, American oboist (San Francisco Symphony), 56 (cerebral hemorrhage)^[22]
  • Armando Trovajoli, Italian film composer and pianist, 95^[23]
• March 1 – Rafael Puyana, Colombian harpsichordist, 81^[24]
• March 9 – Tengiz Amirejibi, Georgian pianist. 89^[25]
• March 21 – Jean-Michel Damase, French composer, pianist, and teacher, 85^[26]
• April 4 – Tommy Tycho, Hungarian-born Australian composer, arranger and orchestra conductor, 84^[27]
• April 10 – Thomas Hemsley, English opera singer, 85^[28]
• April 13 – Stephen Dodgson, composer, 89^[29]
• April 14 – Sir Colin Davis, British conductor, 85^[30]
• April 15 – Jean-François Paillard, French classical conductor, 85^[31]
• April 22 – Lalgudi Jayaraman, Indian violinist, 82^[32]
• April 25 – Jacob Avshalomov, Chinese-born American conductor and composer, 94^[33]
• May 6 – Steve Martland, British composer, 53^[34]
• May 8 – Delia Rigal, Argentine operatic soprano, 92^[35]
• May 9 – Michael Earl, British opera and ballet actor, 84^[36]
• May 15 – Albert Lance, Australian-born French opera singer, 87^[37]
• May 17 – Harold Shapero, American composer and pianist, 93^[38]
• May 20 – Anders Eliasson, Swedish composer, 66^[39]
• May 22 – Henri Dutilleux, French composer, 97^[40]
• June 1 – Paul Olefsky, US cellist (Philadelphia Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra), 87^[41]
• June 2
  • Mario Bernardi, Canadian conductor and pianist, 82^[42]
  • Keith Wilson, US classical musician, teacher and conductor, 96^[43]
• June 3 – Arnold Eidus, US violinist, 90^[44]
• June 9 – Bruno Bartoletti, Italian conductor, 86^[45]
• June 16 – Richard Marlow, English organist and choral director, 74^[46]
• June 27 – Henrik Otto Donner, Finnish composer and music industry executive, 73^[47]
• August 1
  • John Amis, British broadcaster, classical music critic and opera singer, 91^[48]
  • Toby Saks, American cellist, founder of the Seattle Chamber Music Society, 71 (pancreatic cancer)^[49]
• August 11 – Lamberto Puggelli, Italian stage and opera director, 75^[50]
• September 4 – Dick Raaymakers, Dutch composer, theater maker and theorist, 83^[51]
• September 13 – Peter Aston, English composer, 74^[52]
• September 16 – Ratiba El-Hefny, Egyptian opera singer and director of Cairo Opera House, 82^[53]
• September 25 – Hans-Joachim Rotzsch, German choral conductor, 84^[54]
• October 7 – Patrice Chéreau, French film and opera director, 68^[55]
• October 19 – Mahmoud Zoufonoun, Iranian traditional musician, 93^[56]
• October 21 – Gianni Ferrio, Italian composer, conductor and music arranger, 88^[57]
• October 29 – Rudolf Kehrer, German classical pianist, 90^[58]
• November 8 – Arnold Rosner, American composer, 68
• November 12 – Sir John Tavener, English composer of religious music, 69^[59]
• December 4 – Robert Allman, Australian operatic baritone, 86^[60]
• December 6 – Tom Krause, Finnish opera singer, 79^[61]
• December 8
  • Hung Sin-nui, Chinese Cantonese opera singer and actress, 88^[62]
  • Sándor Szokolay, Hungarian composer and professor, 82^[63]
  • Edward Williams, English composer, 92 (Life on Earth).^[64]
• December 9 – Barbara Hesse-Bukowska, 83, Polish classical pianist, 83^[65]
• December 12 – Zbigniew Karkowski, Polish composer, 55^[66]
• December 19 – Winton Dean, English musicologist, 97^[67]
• December 21 – Lars Edlund, Swedish organist and composer, 91^[68]
• December 29 – Wojciech Kilar, Polish composer, 81^[69]

Major awards

References