Marcel Proust wrote to Gabriel Fauré in 1897, “Monsieur, I not only love, admire and venerate your music, I have been, still am, in love with it.” In our first episode on the magnificent nocturnes of Gabriel Fauré we found

The music of Alfred Schnittke is marked by an intense expressiveness, an unpredictable flow of ideas, an innate sense of drama, and a natural lyricism. While traditional genres retained their relevance, Schnittke gave new life to old forms by squeezing

How does a small-town Canadian boy settle in the UK and become a luthier, author, and painter? Michael Kearns, a violin maker and restorer, is one of three partners at Oxford Violins. With his colleagues, Mark Yakoushkin and Bruno Guastalla,

At long last, I encountered an international piano competition where I wholeheartedly agreed with ( and applauded ) the jury’s choice of all the finalists. At this 2024 Hamamatsu Piano Competition, it seemed that exquisite musicianship was the vital requisite

In our last blog, we looked at the stories of some unfinished masterpieces being restored. Let us continue our exploration, starting with Mahler’s Symphony No. 10. Mahler: Symphony 10 In 1910, Gustav Mahler was not a happy man. He had

This year marks the tenth Cello Biënnale AMSTERDAM festival. From October 31- November 10, 2024, cellists gathered from around the world to celebrate our wonderful instrument in the largest festival of its kind. Featuring “Students Around the World”, Bach and

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900) is primarily known as a philosopher who published some groundbreaking books. “Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None,” was published in four volumes between 1883 and 1885, and it spawned a number of philosophical

American conductor and opera administrator Kent Nagano is renowned for interpretations of clarity, elegance, and intelligence. He excels at complex late nineteenth- and twentieth-century scores, and he is considered a Messiaen and Mahler specialist. Nagano is passionate about introducing concert