I really enjoyed writing about this fascinating scholar, pianist, teacher and composer – who successfully fought for equal pay while the lone female instructor at the Paris Conservatory in the mid-ninteenth century. The Naxos label recently released an album featuring her brilliant symphonies. From my article: And you need these ...
Read More“Diversity is Good Business” – My Report on Efforts to Promote Diversity in Classical Music
The movie “Selma” is a brutal reminder – not that any is needed given recent events in Ferguson and elsewhere – of America’s troubled past and continuing problems with discrimination. In the music world, segregated concert halls and attempts to prohibit performances by African American musicians were common. In 1964 ...
Read MoreChickens and Divo Pianists
One of my favorite parts of Jeffrey Fleishman’s excellent, lively profile of LA Philharmonic president Deborah Borda was the revelation that a pianist booked to play with the orchestra needed to stay in a hotel within three blocks of live chickens. I can imagine that artist managers (and hotel staff) ...
Read MoreIt’s a Golden Age For Chamber Music Fans
Music Review: Amphion String Quartet at Alice Tully Hall. What is in the water these days? It’s a golden age for chamber music fans in NY – serenaded by a bountiful supply of polished, energetic and deeply musical young ensembles. The Amphion String Quartet showed their mettle at Alice Tully ...
Read MoreHow Much Life Experience is Necessary to Perform ‘Profound’ Music?
Feature Article: Wait, You Need To Suffer More. I loved researching this article, which explores whether musicians need to have ‘suffered’ in order to effectively perform particularly ‘profound’ music – ie late Beethoven or Schubert. I think the pianist Leif Ove Andsnes sums it up perfectly: “It’s not true that ...
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