How do we really know what a composer looked like? Do we trust paintings and etchings? Do we believe people’s images as mediated through another’s hand? Before photography came into widespread use in the mid-19th century, the only way of

We don’t generally think of music as belonging to a certain time of day, although the next time my local classical station plays The Grand March from Aida at 6 am, I shall throw the radio across the room…but I

If he weren’t writing music for a career, Ian Ng would have liked to be a dancer. The New York-based composer has a strong passion for dance, which in turn influences the way he writes music. Ng’s career is still

We had already talked about the young Johannes’ performances around the city in the last sharing. As a handsome and energetic youth, he was already composing his first piano concerto (after a short stint as an arranger for opera-potpourris).

The new opera house in Guangzhou will be celebrating its fifth anniversary in May, and, in celebration, will be holding an opera gala that has rarely been equaled. On Friday and Saturday, 8-9 May, the GOH will hold its Starry

During his initial years in Vienna, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart made the acquaintance of Franz Anton Mesmer. Mesmer was a trained physician who hypothesized that it was essential to maintain equilibrium between the natural magnetic fluid that filled all living things,

You’re driving along the road and bump bump bump – your tires are sending you a message: either you’re coming up to a toll booth or you’ve driven out of your lane. The cat’s eyes, Botts dots and rumble strips

When I was a budding young cellist my father took me to play for the grand-dame of the cello, Zara Nelsova, who was in town to perform as soloist with the Toronto Symphony. She was known for her extraordinary cello