Monday 6pm ET: MaxMusic 21st Century – 2008 (Part 1)

January 1 – Julia Fischer makes her début as a concert pianist, performing Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor with the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie at the Alte Oper, Frankfurt. The concert was conducted by Matthias Pintscher, who replaced Sir Neville Marriner. On the same occasion she also performed the Violin Concerto no. 3 in B minor by Camille Saint-Saëns.
January 5 – The Salzburg Festival launches the “Herbert von Karajan Jubilee Year” with a concert in Salzburg’s Grosses Festspielhaus.
January 29
Face to Face announce that they will reunite for select shows in the US and internationally.
Rage Against the Machine headline the Big Day Out festivals in Australia and New Zealand, their first shows outside the United States since reforming, and their first Australian shows in 12 years.
January 31 – Laura Attwood of the King Edward VI School in Morpeth wins the second Eileen Bowler Award.
February 8 – Michael Jackson’s Thriller album, the world’s best-selling album of all time, is reissued as Thriller 25 to celebrate its 25th anniversary, with Jackson himself as executive producer.
February 10 – The 50th Grammy Awards ceremony takes place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, US.
February 19 – System of a Down guitarist, Daron Malakian, tells MTV.com that the band is not likely to reform as he will be concentrating on his new project Scars on Broadway.
February 20–25 – Viña del Mar International Song Festival is held in Chile.
February 23 – March 3 – The second annual Soundwave festival is held in Australia.
February 26 – The Return of the Spice Girls tour comes to a close in Toronto.
March 6–9 – The 2008 Langerado Music Festival is held on the Big Cypress Indian Reservation in southern Florida.
March 7 – The Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival 2008 takes place in Indonesia.
March 7–16 – The 2008 South by Southwest Conference and Festival is held in Austin, Texas, US.
March 11 – Jazz musician and broadcaster Humphrey Lyttelton announces his retirement from presenting BBC Radio 2’s jazz programme after forty years.
March 25–29 – Miami Winter Music Conference.
March 31 – theJazz radio station stops broadcasting.
April 1 – Scott Weiland’s departure from rock band Velvet Revolver becomes official. His reunion with his former band, Stone Temple Pilots, and tensions between him and the rest of Velvet Revolver, led to his departure.
April 5
The reunited Face to Face perform together for the first time in four-and-a-half-years at The Bamboozle Left in Irvine, California, US.
Leona Lewis single “Bleeding Love” reached number 1 in 35 countries and became the first song to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart by a female British solo artist in 20 years since Kim Wilde did with “You Keep Me Hangin On” back in 1987. Her single was later proclaimed as the best selling single of 2008 worldwide and Lewis was named Top New Artist by Billboard.
April 12 – “Touch My Body” becomes Mariah Carey’s 18th number 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100, putting her into second place among artists with the most number 1 singles in the rock era, and first place as a solo artist, surpassing Elvis Presley.
April 15 – Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa officially proclaims Mariah Carey Day in Los Angeles, California, US.
April 22 – Andrey Baranov of Russia wins First Prize in the Second Benjamin Britten International Violin Competition in London.
May 3 – The sixth annual The Bamboozle festival opens at the Meadowlands Sports Complex, East Rutherford, New Jersey, US.
May 10–11 – The Give It A Name 2008 festival is held at Earls Court, London, UK.
May 14 – The “Spirit of Change” Gospel Choir celebrates its tenth anniversary with the 20th Zündorfer Gospelnacht concert in the Catholic Parish Church of St. Mariae Geburt, in Zündorf.
May 21 – David Cook defeats David Archuleta to win season 7 of American Idol, in a contest decided by 97.5 million votes, a record for the show.
May 24 – 43 countries compete in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest final in Belgrade, Serbia, including newcomers San Marino and Azerbaijan. The contest is won by Russia, with Believe by Dima Bilan.
May 24–26 – The Sasquatch! Music Festival is held over Memorial Day weekend at The Gorge Amphitheatre in central Washington, US.
May 25 – The Slovak preliminary round of the first Bluegrass competition (toward the annual Czech Festival Banjo Jamboree) is held in Hviezdoslavovo námestie, Bratislava.
May 30 – June 1
Rock In Rio Lisboa 2008 takes place in Parque da Bela Vista, Chelas, Lisbon, Portugal, continuing on June 5–6.
The fourth annual Mountain Jam Festival is held in Hunter Mountain, New York, US.