Big hair, eclectic jewelry and high heels are her trademark. Ida Haendel is considered one of the greatest violin soloists of the twentieth century— born to play the violin. When she appeared earlier in my career with the Minnesota Orchestra

They start to appear as the snows disappear – enticing notices for summer festivals. Spend a week of music in the mountains, or at the seashore, or in a famous historical setting. Summer festivals are a wonderful time to explore

Helen of Sparta was considered the most beautiful woman in the world. Sadly, she was married to a drab, conceited and seriously overweight king. When her lover Paris—who turns out to be the Prince of Troy—couldn’t take it any longer,

Talk about off and running. The Manila-based Ripieno Ensemble only formally launched in January, and its debut performance in February featured an ambitious repertoire: the works of modern-day music stalwarts Schoenberg and Webern as well as those of contemporary Philippine

Today, the idea of a castrato singer is a bit embarrassing. For our hyper-masculine world (would you like muscles on that?), the idea of a male singer who can only sing at a soprano pitch just seems wrong.

John Dowland (1563 –1626) brought the art of weeping to an exquisite height in the early 17th century. This English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer became famed for his melancholy songs that have an inherent darkness that stands in contrast

We looked earlier at Sherlock and Opera and now, when we see what other music he ventured into, we find a connoisseur of the musical arts of his time at its highest point.

Sometimes the actions of an orchestra seem quite mysterious. You’d expect that the orchestra would come on stage, take their seats, the conductor would arrive, and off they’d play. Instead, the orchestra seats itself, and then the first chair of