The history of early electronic musical instruments is filled with evocative and colorful names. We find the Telharmonium (1897), Theremin (1919), Spharophon (1924), Electronde (1933), Trautonium (1930), Mellertion (1933), and the Ondes Martenot (1928). All these early synthesizers make use

It isn’t easy being a musician. Aside from the daily practising routine, usually done alone and in isolation, one can suffer from confidence and self-esteem issues, and crippling self-doubt, often the result of looking at what others are doing and

Brazilian pianist Guiomar Novaes (1895-1979) entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1909 at age 14 and instantly caught the attention of Debussy, who had been on her entrance jury. Even by that young age, she had already made fundamental decisions about

One of the first flute soloists to grace worldwide stages was Marcel Moyse (1889-1984), paving the way for many great flute players of the twentieth century. Born in the east of France at the turn of the century, he moved

My grandfather played the piano, mostly Methodist hymns and his favourite bits of Bach, Beethoven and Haydn. I suppose I was always aware of it and recall sitting next to him when he played when I was very small. It

It’s always amazing how close the past can be. The Polish pianist Moriz Rosenthal (1862-1946) was one of the leading students of Franz Liszt, who we think of as the height of the Romantic era, and also saw some of

This September, the Symphony Orchestra of India, India’s only professional orchestra, is ten years old and will present a special anniversary season of canonic orchestral works at the orchestra’s home, the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) on the

Influential as a performer and teacher as well as a composer, the Polish pianist Leopold Godowsky (1870-1938) was given the nickname the “Buddah of the Piano.” A rarity at a time of great piano tuition, Godowsky was almost entirely self-taught.