The Maestro’s Blog

Birthday Cake

Birthday Blog

Birthday girl, birthday boy, birthday cake. . .I thought why not birthday blog! It’s true. October is my birthday month, and I know that many other people share it including…

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Get a Job!

One of my favorite songs, growing up in the 1950’s and 60’s, was Get A Job by The Silhouettes. I’m proud of the fact that The Silhouettes were from Philadelphia,…

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Assignment

What Can You Notice?

This blog is actually an assignment. My music listening students ask me on occasion: “What can I do to practice active, perceptive listening?” This is a good question, and I…

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The Opening Chord Revisited

I’ve been blogging now for a little over three years. I sometimes wonder if anyone out there has actually been reading them. To recapitulate, as we’d say in sonata form,…

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New Jersey Youth Symphony String Quartet

Ear Worms

This revolting term actually has a specific musical meaning! Wikipedia states: “An ear worm, sometimes also known as a brain worm, (that sounds even worse to me) is a catchy…

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Scales To Scalpels: Doctors Who Practice the Healing Arts of Music and Medicine, Lisa Wong, M.D. with Robert Viagas

Music and ….

Please don’t all shout at once! I can hear the comments now: “But you always say that listening to classical music is in and of itself a completely worthwhile experience….

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DISCOVER MORE Get Updates!

I was delighted to hear George Marriner Maull’s “Inside Music” when he discussed how to listen to and enjoy Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, the 4th movement. To have the words of the choral Ode to Joy translated and explained (word for word) was enlightening and inspiring as well. And to learn all the intricacies of the music itself was fascinating.

— Inside Music radio listener