This article lists major events and other topics related to classical music in 2016.
Events January 1 – The 75th anniversary Vienna New Year's Concert by the Vienna Philharmonic takes place at the Golden Hall of the Musikverein, conducted by Mariss Jansons."New Year's Concert 2016 with Mariss Jansons", Vienna Philharmonic website January 4 – The USA's National Symphony Orchestra announces the appointment of Gianandrea Noseda as its next music director, as of the 2017–2018 season, with an initial contract of 4 seasons. January 12 – Judge Sean H. Lane of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York confirmed a reorganisation plan by NYCO Renaissance for revival of New York City Opera. January 13 – Chetham's School of Music announces the appointment of Alun Jones as its new Head, effective September 2016. January 14 Minnesota Opera announces the appointment of Ryan Taylor as its next president and general director, effective 1 May 2016, with an initial contract of 5 years. Los Angeles Opera announces the appointment of Matthew Aucoin as its first-ever artist-in-residence, effective with the 2016–2017 season, with an initial term of 3 years. January 18 The Artemis String Quartet announces the appointment of Anthea Kreston as its new second violinist. In parallel, Gregor Sigl, the quartet's second violinist, immediately takes the position of violist of the quartet. The Boise Philharmonic Orchestra announces that music director Robert Franz is to conclude his music directorship of the orchestra at the close of the 2015–2016 season. January 20 Friedrich Haider announces his resignation as chief conductor of the Slovak National Theatre. The Berklee College of Music and the Boston Conservatory sign an agreement to merge under the umbrella name of 'Berklee', with the Boston Conservatory location to take the name 'The Boston Conservatory at Berklee'. The Castleton Festival announces suspension of its 2016 summer festival season, citing financial difficulties. NYCO Renaissance, the successor organisation to New York City Opera, gives its first performance, of Puccini's Tosca. January 21 – The Cypress String Quartet announces that it is to disband in the summer of 2016, after 20 years as an ensemble. January 26 – The Orkest van het Oosten announces that Jan Willem de Vriend is to conclude his tenure as chief conductor at the end of the 2016–2017 season. January 27 The Léonie Sonning Music Foundation announces Leonidas Kavakos as the recipient of the Léonie Sonning Music Prize 2017. The New York Philharmonic announces the appointment of Jaap van Zweden as its next music director, effective with the 2018–2019 season, with an initial contract of 5 seasons. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra announces that Jaap van Zweden is to conclude his music directorship of the orchestra after the 2017–2018 season, and subsequently to take the title of conductor laureate as of the 2018–2019 season, for a scheduled 3-season period. January 28 Wigmore Hall live-streams performances for the first time. The Opera di Firenze announces the appointment of Fabio Luisi as its next music director, the first conductor to hold that title with the company, and in parallel, as director of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, as of April 2018, with an initial contract of 5 years. In parallel, Zubin Mehta, the company's principal conductor, is to take the title of principal conductor emeritus. January 29 The Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation announces Per Nørgård as the recipient of the 2016 Ernst von Siemens Music Prize. Oxford University announces the appointment of Natalie Clein as Director of Musical Performance in the Music Faculty, with an initial term of 4 years. February 2 – The Utah Symphony announces the appointment of Paul Meecham as the next president and chief executive officer of Utah Symphony and Utah Opera. February 3 – The Boston Classical Orchestra board of trustees votes to file for bankruptcy. The orchestra subsequently cancels the remainder of its 2015–2016 season and ceases operations. February 4 The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra announces the appointment of Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla as its next music director, effective September 2016, with an initial contract of 3 years. A New York Times report indicates that Fabio Luisi is to stand down from the post of principal conductor of the Metropolitan Opera after the 2016–2017 season. February 7 – Saint Thomas Church, New York City announces the appointment of Daniel Hyde as its next music director.Zachary Woolfe, "St. Thomas Church Names Successor to Longtime Music Director". The New York Times (ArtsBeat blog), 7 February 2016 February 8 – The Long Island Philharmonic announces immediate cessation of operations and closure of the orchestra. February 10 Decca Classics announces the appointment of Alexander Buhr as its next managing director. The Ojai Music Festival announces the appointments of its next series of music directors through 2021: Vijay Iyer (2017 season), Esa-Pekka Salonen (2018 season), Barbara Hannigan (2019 season), Patricia Kopatchinskaja (2020 season), and Mitsuko Uchida (2021 season). February 11 – The NDR Symphony Orchestra announces that it is to change its name to the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, as of 15 April 2016, as a reflection of its scheduled future residency in the new Elbphilharmonie concert hall in January 2017. February 15 – Vancouver Opera announces the appointment of Kim Gaynor as its next general director, effective 1 July 2016. February 18 The Tucson Symphony Orchestra announces the appointment of José Luis Gomez as its next music director, as of the 2017–2018 season. Charles Dutoit conducts the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (OSM) in his first appearance with the OSM since his sudden 2002 resignation from the OSM music directorship. February 19 – The Royal Philharmonic Society announces Sir Peter Maxwell Davies as the recipient of its 102nd Gold Medal. February 24 Ian Bostridge is announced as the winner of the 60th Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize for non-fiction writing, for his book Schubert's Winter Journey: Anatomy of an Obsession. Opera North announces the appointment of Aleksandar Marković as its next music director, effective with the 2016–2017 season. The London Mozart Players (LMP) announce the appointments of Nick Mallett as chair of the LMP Trust and of Julia Desbruslais as executive director of the LMP. The Washington Chorus announces that Julian Wachner is to stand down as its music director after the 2016–2017 season. February 25 – The Ulster Orchestra announces the appointment of Richard Wigley as its new managing director, with immediate effect. February 26 The chorus of English National Opera have voted to take industrial action to protest proposed contract reductions. The National Orchestra of Belgium announces the appointment of Hugh Wolff as its next music director, effective with the 2017–2018 season The city of Bonn announces the appointment of Dirk Kaftan as the next Generalmusikdirektor of the Beethoven Orchester Bonn, effective August 2017, with an initial contract of 5 years. February 29 – The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra announces that Martin Hoffmann is to stand down as Intendant (General Manager) of the orchestra after the end of the 2016–2017 season. March 1 – The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, and the Staatskapelle Berlin jointly perform a free concert for newly arrived refugees and their helpers at the Philharmonie Berlin, under the banner of Willkommen in unserer Mitte ('Welcome among us'), under the patronage of German chancellor Angela Merkel. March 2 The Bridgewater Hall announces the appointment of Andrew Bolt as its new chief executive. The Trondheim Symphony Orchestra announces the appointment of Han-na Chang as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2017–2018 season. Piotr Anderszewski announces that he is taking an undefined sabbatical from performing. His final concert before the start of his sabbatical was on 4 March 2016 in New York City. March 4 – The Theater Nordhausen and Loh-Orchester Sondershausen announce the appointment of Michael Helmrath as their next Generalmusikdirektor (GMD), for 2 seasons, from the period of 2016–2018. March 9 – The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden announces the appointment of William Spaulding as its next chorus director, effective with the 2016–2017 season. March 10 The Birmingham Contemporary Music Group announces the appointment of Stephan Meier as its next artistic director, effective August 2016. The Boston Symphony Orchestra announces the appointment of Thomas Adès as its first-ever Artistic Partner, for a period of 3 years commencing in August 2016. March 14 – Mid Wales Opera announces the appointments of Jonathan Lyness as its next music director, and of Richard Studer as its next artistic director, effective April 2017. March 15 – The Landeskapelle Eisenach announces the appointment of Andreas Fellner as its new chief conductor, effective with the 2016–2017 season. March 18 – The chorus of English National Opera (ENO) announced that its union, Equity, negotiated with ENO management a guaranteed annual pay package of £35,000, rather than the management-proposed reduction to £30,685. The ENO chorus subsequently did not resort to industrial action in protest at the earlier proposal, as had been decided on 26 February. March 21 – The Gloucester Cathedral Choir announces that it is to recruit girl choristers for the first time in its history, in April 2016. March 22 – Mark Wigglesworth announces his resignation as music director of English National Opera, effective at the end of the 2015–2016 season. March 24 – The Orchestre national de Lille announces the appointment of Alexandre Bloch as its new music director, effective with the 2016–2017 season. March 29 – Jeff Melanson resigns as president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO). The orchestra announces that Sonia Baxendale is to be the TSO's interim CEO. Both actions are with immediate effect. April 5 – The Orchestre National de Lyon announces that Leonard Slatkin is to stand down as its music director after the 2016–2017 season, and subsequently to take the title of Directeur musical honoraire. April 13 The City of London Festival announces that it is ceasing operations. NorrlandsOperan announces the appointment of Elim Chan as its next chief conductor, effective in 2017, with an initial contract of 3 years. The Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra announces that Cornelius Meister is to stand down as its chief conductor in 2018, at the end of his current contract. April 14 – The Metropolitan Opera announces that James Levine is to retire as its music director at the end of the 2015=2016 season, and subsequently to take the title of music director emeritus. April 18 The Royal Northern College of Music announces the appointment of Sir John Tomlinson as its next president, for a term of 5 years, effective January 2017. The Göttingen Symphony Orchestra announces that Christoph-Mathias Mueller is to conclude his chief conductorship of the orchestra after the close of the 2017–2018 season. April 19 The city of Wuppertal announces the appointment of Julia Jones as the next General Music Director (Generalmusikdirektorin) of the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra (Sinfonieorchesters Wuppertal), which also encompasses the music directorship of the Wuppertal Opera (Wuppertaler Bühnen), with an initial contract for 3 years, effective with the 2016–2017 season. The RIAS Kammerchor announces the appointment of Justin Doyle as its next chief conductor and artistic director, effective with the 2017–2018 season.