Gustav Mahler Das klagende Lied (1880) Kindertotenlieder (1904) Symphony No. 9 (1909) Summer of 1907 came as a nightmare for Austrian-Jewish composer Gustav Mahler (1860-1911). His five year old daughter Maria Anna died of scarlet fever and diphtheria; he lost

Injuries among musicians occur mainly due to overuse. Repetition, excessive force, poor posture, awkward positions, and little respite from our wonderful profession when stirred into the mix, is a recipe for disaster. Half of the injuries seen in musicians are

Stravinsky Symphony No. 1 in E flat major, Op. 1 (1907) At age nine, Russian musician Dmitry Shostakovich (1906-1975) was already a music prodigy. His parents took him to his first opera performance when he was five, only to find

Do cows understand music? Can animals appreciate the beauty of music? The term “playing music to a cow” (对牛弹琴) is an old Chinese proverb that came about when a man called Gong Mingyi played music to his cow, only to

Looking good, feeling good and sounding good are inextricably linked when it comes to playing our instruments. We strive to play with “good technique” but do we have the same commitment to play with good posture? Good posture helps our

Imagine a world without language — a world where sounds were merely frequencies on a spectrum, and where the rules of writing and speech did not exist. It would be virtually impossible to imagine how human civilization would have developed,

Ravel : Bolero Sibelius : Oceanides We musicians just want to make music. We are willing to self-destruct if need be. But the goal is to re-create great music with ease and expressiveness. It’s vital to keep in mind that

During the Baroque period (1600-1750), male sopranos composed about 70 percent of all opera singers. Crowned as the singing sensations of the 18th century, these men moved audiences with the shrill clarity of their high-pitched voices, and the lung power