He looks like he should still be at school, yet he plays with the commanding presence, exceptional technical facility and deep commitment a professional artist thrice his years would envy. He’s floppy haired, slightly built, yet he can bring power

Music, like many other trades, tends to run in families. Likely a combination of genetics and environment, the shared activity of music making may even pass down through multiple generations. And as we well know, not all members of a

“Bach’s Goldberg Variations caused me misery – but I still can’t get enough”– Jeremy Denk, pianist Our relationship with our repertoire is personal and often long-standing. Connections with certain pieces and composers may be forged in our early days of

What’s the Difference? Here’s My Approach Last month I gave a masterclass at George Mason University School of Music in Fairfax, Virginia, the largest 4-year public university in Virginia. I heard four young cellists, and later addressed the full University

When it comes to unconventional classical music, there are several composers that can be singled out. Some who would fit the bill are Philip Glass, Erik Satie, Stravinsky, Schoenberg and my favourite unorthodox composer, Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber. Born in

Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin can play anything just about better than anyone else on the current international piano circuit. Or so it would appear from his fascinating recitals whose diverse and ambitious programmes range from Alkan to Ives, Liszt to

“To create architecture is to put in order. Put what in order? Function and objects.” When Le Corbusier said that sentence about architecture, he could have been talking just as much about music. While the architect practices the art of

This catchy little phrase is part of the current classical music marketing for London’s Southbank Centre (which includes the Royal Festival Hall). It’s a great statement because it’s true: nothing beats the experience of live music. A recording is a