A former voice coach for the All-American Boys Chorus has been shipped back to the US after a prolonged fight against extradition.

Roger Alan Giese, 43, has been charged on 19 counts including one of committing lewd acts on a child.

He had been living in England for several years under an assumed name.

More here.

A month ago we carried a post from an American baritone Samuel Schultz, claiming that he had been raped by a well-known power couple in the opera world.

Samuel did not name his assailants, and nor did we.

The alleged rapists are named today in a tabloid newspaper on a website that is blocked to European visitors. Both have issued a statement, denying the allegation.

We have not mentioned the alleged culprits’ names for legal reasons, and we strongly advise commenters not to do so either.

UPDATE: The University of Michigan has announced a leave of absence for David Daniels.

2nd UPDATE: Two months on, Daniels denies all.

Latest video from Elisabeth Kulman and Agnes Heginger, the self-styled Topstars Topless.

Details have emerged of the house arrest conditions under which Kirill Serebrennikov has lived for the past year while a Moscow court ‘investigates’ trumped-up fraud charges against the outspoken Putin critic.

The opera director, 48, is allowed no contact with the outside world. He may only speak to his father and his lawyer and has no access to the internet. He is confined to a small apartment without a balcony in the centre of Moscow and is permitted to take a supervised walk for two hours a day.

His lawyer says: ‘The restrictions of his freedom are very stressful for Kirill. He works around the clock.’

Yun Kim, 22, went to Australia for a year to improve her English and earn some money to further her piano studies.

Tragically, the job she took was in an abattoir. She now has prosthetic fingers.

Full distressing story here.

One of the ruling trinity of late-20th century modernism, we hear less of Stockhausen a decade after his death than we do of his confrères Boulez and Ligeti.

Time for a reassessment?

UPDATE: Message from Pierre Audi: Dutch National Opera, the Holland Festival and The Hague Conservatorium are teaming up to present Aus Licht: a three day event covering in one venue large parts of all 7 operas from the LICHT cycle. The project is four years in the making. If this is not a come back in Stockhausen ‘s 90th year I don’t know what it is . We are covering about 18 hours of music. I am in charge of the semi staging and Kathinka Pasveer is the musical director of the project.

Or do we have to wait for his centenary in 2028?

Thirty years ago, when she was the hot soprano at the Met and destined for greater things, I wrote a Sunday Times magazine feature about Aprile Millo, and much enjoyed doing so.

And then?

Aprile went on to enjoy a good career in the US and Europe, but nothing happened in the UK.

Until now.

This week (I just heard) she made her London debut with two recitals at the London Bel Canto Festival at off-piste Cadogan Hall.

Sorry I missed her.

A group of 59 UK arts organisations succeeded in raising £406,000 from 4,970 donors last year, according to published results.

‘The majority of respondents indicated that the hard work involved in running a crowdfunding campaign was ultimately worth the rewards,’ says the sponsoring organisation, Nesta.

But here’s the catch: Nesta offered matching funds for every single donor, an incentive that endorsed the projected and persuaded more people to give.

Crowdfunding, as such, is not an efficient way of running an arts org. Look what happened to NY’s City Opera.