Our second destination in our world tour of the world’s great music colleges sees us stopping off in the USA, in the state of Philadelphia. The Curtis Institute of Music is renowned for its exceptional level of musical tuition, and

‘Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.’ ‘To educate somebody, you should start from poems, emphasise on ceremonies, and finish with music.’ Confucius (551 BC – 479 BC) There have recently been a number of

I recently came across an extraordinary image. Many police services combine images of a suspect to create a general photo-fit image. But the federal police in Berlin recently combined a number of portraits of a man who died in the

Oscar Wilde sarcastically suggested, “Good resolutions are simply checks that people draw on a bank where they have no account.” Of course it might also be said that making resolutions is a cleansing ritual demanding personal honesty, and that breaking

Something out of nothing Processes processes processes Repetition Inspiration Are you confused yet?

Based in Budapest, the Liszt Academy is one of the most renowned music colleges in Europe, and the world. Founded in 1875 by the composer-pianist himself, it has gone on to become a centre of musical excellence. I talked with

Perhaps the most popular of all Marian Prayers, the “Ave Maria” (Hail Mary) originated in the gospel of Luke. Historically, the text is divided into three parts and opens with a salutation of the Angel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin.

“Are soloists nice?” audiences ask. “Not all of them,” I’d reply cautiously. (One doesn’t want to taint the concert experience, after all.) Some soloists can be self-centered; others reserved. There are soloists who stand out as genuine, warm and wonderful