The Hallé’s celebration of the 87-year-old composer, curated by percussionist Colin Currie, opened with masterly performances of his intricate works, including the shimmeringly beautiful Music for Ensemble and Orchestra

The Hallé, BBC Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata and Manchester Collective join forces in an enticing new weekender for their home city. Elsewhere, breathless, barefoot revelations with Messiaen

The patterns of a work by Gerhard Richter inspire one of Reich’s most impressive recent pieces, elegantly performed in 2020

Our critic enjoys a masterly, socially distanced first night of the Proms, a new series by Opera North made to listen as you walk and a striking Met performance by Lise Davidsen

An outstanding disc of piano trios from Gluzman, Moser and Sudbin, a world premiere Debussy recording from the Hallé, and Steve Reich at MoMA

Over the coming week, the Guardian will select the greatest culture since 2000, carefully compiled by critics and editors. We begin with a countdown of defining classical music compositions, from X-rated opera to high-tech string quartets

Vale of Glamorgan festival celebrates its 50th with mesmerising performances on wine glasses, electronic inventions and a Dutch street organ named Astrid

The escalators need fixing and there’s no bar – but the show must go on, as stars from Ben Whishaw to Steve McQueen open NYC’s first major new arts venue for decades

Minimalism becomes spectacle in ENO’s entrancing Philip Glass revival, while many hands make hypnotically light work of Steve Reich

A programme of new works was consistent only in how it disappointed, with Järvi’s own overlong composition particularly trying

Conductor Charles Hazlewood on the sounds that sparked a cultural revolution and redrew musical boundaries