While the Catholic Church celebrates “All Saints’ Day” on November 1, the arts community has decided to declare that very day the “World Ballet Day.” As such, we thought it might be fun to explore some of the origins of

Up the Hudson River from New York City lies the ‘hamlet’ of Valhalla, and there, in Westchester County, lies Valhalla Cemetery, created in 1889 as the cemeteries in New York City were reaching capacity. The design of the cemetery followed

The history of classical music is brimming with storied musical instruments. Chief among them is the Messiah Stradivarius, believed to be the most expensive violin in the world, celebrated for its pristine condition and astronomical value. Today we’re delving into

The Giuliani family produced two influential figures in the history of guitar music. Mauro Giuliani and his daughter Emilia Giuliani-Guglielmi were both Italian composers and guitarists. Mauro Giuliani (1781-1829) played a crucial role in transforming the guitar from a mere

Daisy Bell is a song that lives in popular culture. Don’t recognize the title? You might know it better by the final line of the chorus: ‘….a bicycle built for two.’ English composer Frank Dean (1857–1922) immortalized the tandem bicycle,

Music directors of the major orchestras in the world do not typically come and go. A case in point, Eugene Ormandy was principal conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1938-1980 a total of 42 years. Not to be outdone, Zubin

Ruth Slenczysnka must be one of the most interesting pianists alive today. She certainly has a story unlike any other: she studied piano with Rachmaninoff as a little girl – became an international musical sensation – abandoned her performing career

Pianist Hans von Bülow was called upon on 25 October 1875 to play the first performance of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 at the Music Hall in Boston. Tchaikovsky wrote to Bülow, “Thank you for the sympathetic attention you have