Halloween Candy
Sometime before Halloween, The Discovery Orchestra will post a photo on Facebook that purports to have me in the picture. It does, in fact, have a nine-year-old George Marriner Maull…
AHA moment
“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…
The Joys of Life
We all have joys of life – those people, occasions and activities that especially delight us. For me, one of the great joys is presenting the Bank of America Classical…
The ‘Art Song’ Challenge
The term ‘art song’ has always disturbed me a little bit. What song is not a work of art, and therefore not an ‘art song?’ Are ‘art songs’ in the…
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…
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…
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.