Hungarian cellist Laszlo Varga escaped war-torn Budapest, and Nazi forced labor, to become principal cello of the New York Philharmonic, a recitalist, quartet player, and revered teacher. He was born in Budapest in 1924, surrounded by music—his father was an

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) is rightfully credited with merging the music of his native Brazil with musical elements and stylistic features from a central-European classical tradition. Born in Rio de Janeiro but trained in the European Conservatory tradition, Villa-Lobos began to

Johannes Brahms was highly indifferent to organized religion. Although baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith, he considered the bible “a repository of experiences and wisdoms rather than a definition of Christian creed.” It was the death of his beloved

The art of music is inexorably linked to the dimension of time. As such it fundamentally mirrors the sense of movement or journey that is an essential element of the human condition. Humankind has migrated to every corner of the

For musicians, professionals and amateurs alike, the name Dartington evokes magical memories of intense and inspirational music-making in a beautiful secluded enclave of Devon, UK.

It never fails to amaze that Johann Sebastian Bach was practically unknown during his early days. It took almost a year of negotiation, and the refusal of Georg Friedrich Telemann and Christoph Graupner, before the Kantor position at St. Thomas

Eva Heinitz, cello soloist of international repute, who performed chamber music with violinists, Heifetz, Menuhin, Milstein, Szigeti, and Stern, was an exceptional teacher before she became known as “The Wanda Landowska of the Viola da Gamba.”

In his hometown of Copenhagen, Hans Christian Lumbye (1810-1874) was known as the “Strauss of the North.” It all started when he heard a Viennese orchestra play music by Johann Strauss I, Fire and flame, Lumbye appeared at the head