A Day in the Life of a Pair of Violists
As some of you may know, I began my musical career as a violist. I was very fortunate to be able to begin playing professionally in a symphony orchestra before…
Featured Instrument N-Z
A Visit with Saul
Last week I had the great pleasure of spending four hours with Dr. Saul Feinberg, my mentor, guru, high school piano teacher, and friend of fifty-three years. Saul is now…
Classical Music Is So Relaxing!
Or is it? One of the things frequently said about classical music is: “I love classical music because it’s so relaxing!” When I encounter this observation I can only think…
Musician Humor
A few blog posts ago I let some of you in on ‘conductor humor.’ I say ‘some of you’ because there are undoubtedly ‘others of you’ who may have already…
Discovery Orchestra Chat 105 – Interpretation
The content of a piece of classical music has been fixed since it was finished by the composer who wrote it. But what about the words “Moderately Fast” or “Loud”…
Discovery Orchestra Chat 103 – Another Episode of Program Music
Maestro Maull gives us a piece of program music that he has loved since he was 18. Program music is written by composers when they have a specific picture to…
Today I watched an episode called “Discover Beethoven’s Fifth”, and it was marvelous! Maestro Maull and his talented orchestra gave me a one-hour thrill. I’ve always loved Beethoven, especially his Fifth Symphony. I studied piano for 7 years as a young person, and came to appreciate so many of the classical composers, but Beethoven’s Fifth has always thrilled me. I so appreciated the format of the program, and the Maestro involved all of us and taught us so much. Thank you for this fine program. And many thanks and praise to the orchestra! When the program ended, I clapped loudly and shouted “Bravo!! Bravo!!!”