2011 in classical music

Events

• February – The Juilliard String Quartet receives the NARAS Lifetime Achievement Award for its outstanding contributions to recorded classical music.
• May 12 – The Classical Brit Awards are presented by Myleene Klass at London's Royal Albert Hall.

New works

A

• Kalevi Aho – Trumpet Concerto

C

• Elliott Carter – ''Two Controversies and a Conversation''

D

• Julius Dobos – ''Hymn to The Fukushima 50''

F

• Francesco Filidei – Ballata, for organ, ensemble and live electronics

G

• Philip Glass – Symphony No. 9

H

• Mehdi Hosseini – ''Monodies''

I

• Iamus (computer) – ''Hello World!''

K

• Wojciech Kilar –
• *Lumen for mixed a cappella choir
• *Piano Concerto No. 2

M

• Paul Mealor – ''Ubi Caritas et Amor''

N

• Per Nørgård – Symphony No. 8

R

• Christopher Rouse
• *Prospero's Rooms
• *Symphony No. 3

S

• Steven Stucky – ''Silent Spring''

Opera premieres

Albums

• Nicola Benedetti – Italia
• Andrea Bocelli – Concerto: One Night in Central Park
• Joseph Calleja – The Maltese Tenor
• Jackie Evancho – Dream With Me
• Wynne Evans – A Song In My Heart
• Angela Gheorghiu – Homage to Maria Callas
• Katherine Jenkins – Daydream
• Miloš Karadaglić – The Guitar
• Oregon Symphony – Music for a Time of War
• André Rieu & the Johann Strauss Orchestra – ''Moonlight Serenade''

Musical films

• ''Violin''

Deaths

• January 24 – Bhimsen Joshi, Indian classical vocalist, 88
• January 28 – Dame Margaret Price, Welsh operatic soprano, 69
• February 2 – Armando Chin Yong, 52, Malaysian opera singer
• February 5 – Beatrice Krebs, 86, American mezzo-soprano
• February 6 – Per Grundén, 88, Swedish tenor
• February 10 – Claus Helmut Drese, 88, German opera manager
• February 21 – Antonín Švorc, 77, Czech bass-baritone
• February 26 – Eugene Fodor, US violinist, 60
• March 13 –, 81, Austrian baritone
• March 22 – Victor Bouchard, Canadian pianist and composer, 84
• March 28 – Lee Hoiby, 85, American composer and pianist
• March 29 – Robert Tear, Welsh operatic tenor and conductor, 72
• April 8 – Donald Shanks, 70, Australian bass-baritone
• April 8 – Daniel Catán, 62, Mexican composer
• April 15 – Vincenzo La Scola, Italian operatic tenor, 53
• May 7 – Jane Rhodes, 82, French soprano/mezzo-soprano
• May 30 – Giorgio Tozzi, 88, American bass
• July 4 – Gerhard Unger, 95, German tenor
• July 6 – Josef Suk, Czech violinist and conductor, 81
• July 23 – David Aiken, 93, American baritone
• July 26 – Denise Scharley, French operatic contralto, 94
• August 1 – Milada Šubrtová, Czech operatic soprano, 87
• August 2 – Ralph Berkowitz, US composer and painter, 100
• August 3 – Louise Behrend, US violinist and academic, 94
• August 25 – Anne Sharp, 94, Scottish coloratura soprano
• September 5 – Salvatore Licitra, 43, Italian tenor
• September 29 – Vera Veljkov-Medaković, Serbian pianist and piano teacher, 88
• October 8 – Ingvar Wixell, Swedish operatic baritone, 80
• October 19 – James Yannatos, US composer conductor, violinist and teacher, 82
• October 29 – Walter Norris, American pianist and composer, 79
• November 22 – Sena Jurinac, Bosnian operatic soprano, 90
• November 23 – Montserrat Figueras, Catalan operatic soprano, 70
• December 5 – Violetta Villas, Polish coloratura soprano, cabaret star, singer, actress, composer and songwriter, 73
• December 8 – Minoru Miki, 81, Japanese composer

Major awards

International Tchaikovsky Competition 2011 – Piano

• Daniil Trifonov

[International [Tchaikovsky Competition 2011 – Violin]]

• No first prize awarded. Sergey Dogadin and Itamar Zorman share second prize.

[2011 International [Franz Liszt Piano Competition]]

• Masataka Goto

[BBC [Cardiff Singer of the World competition]]

• Valentina Naforniţă

Classical Brits

• Composer of the Year – Arvo Pärt
• Male Artist of the Year – Antonio Pappano
• Female Artist Of The Year – Alison Balsom
• Critics' Award – Tasmin Little
• Artist of the Decade – Il Divo

Grammy Awards

• ''See 53rd Grammy Awards''