There is no question that the coronavirus pandemic has had a profound effect on our daily lives, and its effect and after-effects will continue to be felt for many months and possibly years to come. For musicians, the effect of

Conductor Xian Zhang has perhaps had a more difficult road than many conductors. She was born in Dandong, China, in 1973 just after the Cultural Revolution during which western music was forbidden. Named Xian, which means ‘string’—of a stringed instrument—her

The ancient Greeks used Ekphrasis as a method for training students to describe a visual object. Ekphrasis is a verbal or written description of a visual object. Down through history it has been used by artists to relate to other

One of the things that we are often unaware of is how much our first hearing of a work can influence our thoughts on that work. I don’t think I really paid attention to the music around me unless I

The arts don’t exist in isolation.David Byrne, musician Musicians, like writers and artists, need quiet time and solitude to pursue their work. The desire to withdraw, often for hours on end, is not necessarily a sign of unsociability nor introvertedness

Why are there so many words when it comes to music? And in so many languages, like Italian, German, French, and even English! Often, one has to decipher obscure words to read the score and the musical directions, which include

I have always thought that the music I create could never be used as dance music. I hear certain slow pieces on the radio and think that there is no way anyone could choreograph movement to this near static music.

What do old opera singers do when they age out? The early 20th-century soprano Nellie Melba did a farewell tour and then another one and then another one, so much that Webster’s dictionary made a verb of it. ‘To do