For a good many commentators, the Ukrainian city of Odessa is the “cradle of Russian pianism.” The unique blend of Russian, Yiddish, and Ukrainian cultures has given birth to pianists like Benno Moiseiwitsch, Vladimir de Pachmann, Shura Cherkassky, Emil Gilels,

Today, the classical music scene is much more diversified and not limited to only Western traditional instruments. In this article, two Hong Kong-born composers, Hong Hong Gianakon and Kwan Leung Ling, share their journeys as composers and their works using

The most familiar accompaniment to the voice is the piano, or in earlier days, the guitar or the lute. Putting the voice with larger ensembles runs the risk of drowning the voice in the volume of the other instruments. One

Estonian-born composer Arvo Pärt (1935- ) has managed to strike a sound of devotional archaism into a world of chaotic modernity. Highly experimental during his early musical career, Part’s study of early music inspired a new, and completely unique musical

Eleanor Cory: O’Keeffe’s Flora Starting in the mid-1920s, American artist Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986) started her 30-year exploration of flowers. By taking something that might be quite small and painting it multiplied by many times, she found a way to make

Alicia de Larrocha, born on 23 May 1923 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, was never too keen on giving interviews in English. That reluctance was based on the unfounded fear of being unable to express her views on music fully and

L’Italiana in Algeri (The Italian Girl in Algiers) is Gioachino Rossini’s first buffo masterpiece in a fully-fledged two-act form, and it is one of the greatest comic masterpieces ever created. Based on a libretto by Angelo Anelli, and specifically written

The process of adapting a piece of music for a scoring other than that of the original dates back for centuries. For one, by fashioning transcriptions and arrangements of orchestral works or operas, the public gained access to the latest