Best classical music stories of 2023

In what was your second most popular Classic 100 in 22 years, the cello took out the top spot as Australia's favourite instrument.

Purple Wiggle Lachy celebrated your number 100 instrument, the Keytar, and Jeremy Fernadez advocated for #JusticeForPiano, after the instrument came in second place.

Explore all of the results, and watch the Classic 100 in Concert with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra on ABC iview.

After years of teasing, the new Leonard Bernstein biopic was released earlier this month. Bradley Cooper prepared for six years to play the iconic Bernstein. We asked some Australian musicians to weigh in on his performance.

This year legendary Australian broadcaster and ABC Classic's 'Queen of Opera', Mairi Nicolson, celebrated her 45th anniversary with the ABC. She shared some reflections on the special chemistry that happens when the red light goes on.

Ray Chen showed us what Oxford Dictionary word of the year 'rizz' is all about when told us how he asked out a fellow musician at music camp.

Watch his rendition of The Swan and find out what Ray picked when we challenged him to choose between some of the most popular violin music.

Be amazed by Ellie Malonzo, who has already written and performed in two violin concertos at just 13 years old. She shared her Baroque inspirations and some of her secrets for writing for orchestras.

We commemorate musicians who died in 2023 including mezzo-soprano Jacqueline Dark, screen composer Carl Davis, and Melbourne's famous street pianist Natalie Trayling, who captured the hearts of so many.

According to a new study, heart rate, breathing and skin conductance demonstrate how listening to live classical music together moves audiences.

Scientists also tried to solve the age-old question of where musical talent comes from.

After three years of mostly singing together online, for this year's Classic Choir we joined voices together in person in Summer Together, by Elena Kats-Chernin with words by Gunai poet Kirli Saunders.

Take a look back at the evolution of Classic Choir, and four years of making music together to celebrate the season from an Australian perspective.