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Make Friends With the Music
Too often it seems that we view learning, studying, practising and performing music as a kind of fight. People talk about “doing battle with Beethoven” or “fighting the fear” (of performing) as if one must take up arms against unseen,
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How Not to Be a Musician
What do your dreams look like? Fame, stardom, success and riches? We all have dreams, but do you know how to achieve them? I can start by telling you what not to do, and you can take it from there.
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Preview of Dartington International Summer School 2020
Incoming Artistic Director sees Dartington International Summer School as a “laboratory” for musicians and composers to experiment and explore Since its foundation in 1947, Dartington International Summer School (DISS) has been a place where musicians, professional and amateur, come together
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Jessye Norman (1945-2019)
“I Am Grateful That My Horizons Were Not Narrowed at the Outset”
There can be no doubt that Jessye Norman (1945-2019) had one of the world’s most beautiful and powerful voices. Described as a “grand mansion of sound…that opens onto unexpected vistas,” Norman was a phenomenon that possessed a glorious rich middle
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Paul Badura-Skoda (1927-2019)
“Mozart Writes the Most Perfect, the Most Beautiful Music”
When I was a young and aspiring piano student I once asked my teacher if she would teach me a Mozart sonata. “No,” she said brusquely, “Mozart is too easy.” Even then, this struck me as somewhat odd, because when
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Art and Life Are Not Two Separate Things
The statement in the title of this article was made by Felix Mendelssohn. In his short life of just 38 years, Mendelssohn left his mark on the art world with compositions that are still highly popular today. His music was
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The Difficulty With Mozart
“The sonatas of Mozart are unique; they are too easy for children, and too difficult for artists.” ― Artur Schnabel Artur Schnabel Plays Mozart’s Piano sonata K.333 On the page the piano music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart looks simple (but
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A Guide to Music Appreciation
This article has been written in reaction to hearing “I don’t like this [enter instrument, genre, artist etc.]” too often. As a composer, diversity in music is equal to the painter’s, who constantly seeks for new colours, or the chef’s
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