This week, we’re playing a richly varied program of music by Sibelius, Grieg, and Mozart – meat and potatoes repertoire – and I’m sitting at the back of the section with Sifei Cheng, who was my very first stand partner … Continue reading →
During a little online research for a preconcert lecture Friday, I came across this article on Mozart and Haydn which concluded with the following paragraph: Some years ago, I was discussing music with two friends, one of them a distinguished … Continue reading →
The Superbowl was great (the last quarter made it a truly exciting game, and I’m so happy for the city of New Orleans!), but what really made my weekend was a pair of concerts, both in Orchestra Hall, both of … Continue reading →
This turned out to be one of those relatively rare years when the actual Super Bowl was better than the much-anticipated Super Bowl ads. (And Vikings fans – didn’t it take away a little bit of the sting when you … Continue reading →
In the last few years, it seems like there’s been a surge of interest in music and the human brain. Renowned neurologist Oliver Sacks jump-started the conversation with his remarkable 2007 book, Musicophilia, which was part scientific examination of how … Continue reading →
Marin Alsop conceived of and presented some unusual concerts this week, featuring nearly 600 amateur musicians playing alongside the professionals in the Baltimore Symphony in a program called “Rusty Musicians with the BSO“. The requirements? Simply to be over the … Continue reading →
This is going to be a delicately written post, for a lot of reasons. Anytime politics and the arts start to get mixed up with each other, there seems to be a better than even chance that someone is going … Continue reading →
On the heels of last week’s ItC concerts that featured music of Claude Debussy, we got this excellent Ask An Expert question from Pat O’Regan… Q: When I leave the concert, almost invariably… I am born away by the music. … Continue reading →
