The Maestro’s Blog

The Philadelphia Orchestra – Rest In Peace?

How are we to digest the news that one of the greatest orchestras in the United States and the world has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection? How especially are…

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The More We Perceive…The More We Receive

My mentor Saul Feinberg once said those words in my presence. I nodded in assent, to which he added, “Feel free to use that.” I have and I do. Saul’s…

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The Good News

In 1960, when I left St. Peter’s Choir School in Philadelphia and entered the local public school. . .Abraham Lincoln High School, populated by some 5,000 students grades eight through…

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Is Classical Music Dying?

A segment of the blogoshere is filled with discussion these days about what’s happening to classical music, often emphasizing the precarious financial condition in which professional classical music organizations currently…

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What is Maullaria?

The term “Maullaria” was coined by a young student of mine in the early 1980s who had a T-Shirt made which stated: “I have Maullaria.” Amused, years later I decided…

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Opening Chord

When people talk or write about classical music they often resort to very descriptive, flowery adjective-filled prose. And we perhaps can get from this a sense of how a given…

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Your “listening guide” amazes me, in that it is a means of illustrating the role of various instrumental sections in communicating and “telling” a story. My background is science and technology so the 1 -1 ½ hours listening to a symphony with your presentation was an exciting learning experience I was not expecting.You are an exceptional talent and personality to be able to introduce someone like myself to the very complicated language of a symphony.

— Outreach Program Attendee