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

After many decades of performing, one would think everything that could possibly go wrong has… Wrong! Or am I a magnet for snafus? Last month, my pianist and I drove the two hours to a University in a nearby town.

Long before the recent cultural revolution that wants us to slow down the pace of our lives known as the Slow Movement, we had the slow movement in music. Composers have always known that to balance their music, there needed

The Instrumental Concerto: pinnacle of music creation – for a soloist and conductor, the ultimate achievement on stage. The convergence of multiple elements in a perfect marriage of complexity, virtuosity, communication, and connection. Except for those times it ends up

“I wish I’d kept up my piano lessons!” How many people do you meet who express this regret, that they’d continued childhood piano lessons into adulthood? At my piano club, there are people who have played all their life; others

Does your music collection have a cross-section of classical and electronic music? If not, it should. Because classical and electronic music share many sonic similarities. The number of contemporary pop, rock, electronic, and alternate music groups and composers who have