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…
Marvelous job, Maestro, as always! Thank you for doing such a splendid, insightful and careful deep-dive into the art and craftsmanship that Tchaikovsky, after much effort, put into creating this work. There really is no greater portrayal of young love in music than his Romeo and Juliet, and your thoughtfulness demonstrates it so admirably.