From The OC Register: ClassicalTV love Gustavo Dudamel will - as you already know, right? - take over as musical director at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in October; tickets to see the vibrant, 28-year-old Venezualan conductor in action at the Walt Disney Concert Hall go on sale Sunday.

From The NY Times: Two artists in the kitchen? Passing Strange, the well-received musical about a young, black musician escaping middle-class, '70s L.A. for a wild tour of Europe - is the semi-autobiographical project of singer-playwright Stew; enter Spike Lee: for his new documentary, which premiered in New York's West Village on Friday, Lee transformed three Passing Strange performances into his own film version.

From The AP: Sad news - soprano and renowned Wagnerian performer Hildegard Behrens died of an apparent aneurism while traveling in Japan. She was 72.

From The NY Times: This winter, the New York City Ballet will begin a year-long ode to itself - to our benefit - in celebration of its 50th anniversary at the Lincoln Center. The recently announced lineup? A "premiere by Peter Martins to a John Adams score," as well as "11 ballets by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins and five full-length ballets, including Romeo and Juliet and Swan Lake."