Frédéric Chopin is, without question, Poland’s most famous composer. His Polish identity, as well as his exile from Poland after the November Uprising of 1830, was deeply important to his work, contributing to his music’s character of melancholy longing. However,

A spectacular musical event took place from May 9 through May 18 this year. The Royal Concertgebouw, founded in 1888, hosted their 3rd Mahler festival ever in their history, featuring all of Mahler’s symphonic works and songs. The performances took

Classical music is difficult to write, and most people assume that you need a rigorous formal education to be able to write great works. However, some of history’s most extraordinary composers forged their creative paths without extensive formal education, relying

English composer Ernest Tomlinson (1924-2015) was noted as a composer of light music, and with the rise of pop music, found that organisations all over Britain, from the BBC to theatre, were discarding their Light Music collections. Appalled, he started

Dubbed the “Maharaja of the Keyboard” by Duke Ellington, Oscar Emmanel Peterson is one of the most influential jazz pianists of the 20th century. Born to Caribbean immigrant parents in Montreal, Canada, Peterson’s virtuosic technique and improvisational brilliance elevated him

The extraordinary career of Italian-born French pianist Aldo Ciccolini (1925-2015) spanned over six decades. A prodigious talent from a young age, he studied at the Naples Conservatory but made Paris his home in the late 1940s. Ciccolini’s artistry was defined

Pianist Eileen Joyce was one of the twentieth century’s most glamorous pianists, famous for her designer wardrobe, appearances on film soundtracks, and marathon four-concerto concert performances. However, she came from modest beginnings, born to impoverished parents in Western Australia. Raw

Which woman composer has been played the most at the Proms? Would you believe it’s an obscure Englishwoman born in 1855 named Maude Valérie White? She was a prolific composer, writing over two hundred songs, a ballet, and an unfinished