A Pearl Among Us
No, I’m not speaking of the precious collectible created by oysters and other mollusks, but of violinist Itzhak Perlman. I have enjoyed his playing for decades and feel privileged to…
Composer M-R
Discovery Orchestra Chat 110 – Another Effective Surprise
All surprises in life feel the way they do because of the unexpected aspect of the surprise. Composers can create “musical surprises” – see how in this Chat featuring pianist…
Thanks! An Encore Presentation. . .
As I began to write what I hope will be an annual Thanksgiving Day blog post, I re-read last year’s – my first. It appeared to contain some good thoughts,…
Discovery Orchestra Chat 108 – The Land of 6th’s and Octaves
When composers want to add harmony to a melody, there are a number of ways they can do it. Learn more in this Discovery Orchestra Chat, featuring high-school musicians Katie…
Musical Discoveries of the Third Kind
You may recall the motion picture Close Encounters of the Third Kind that centers about a groundbreaking encounter with extraterrestrials. If groundbreaking classical music discoveries are what you seek, you…
“When You’re a Jet. . .”
“When you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet all the way / From your first cigarette to your last dyin’ day.” This lyric from West Side Story appeared in Jonathan Cott’s…
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.