Shortly after the cessation of hostilities in 1946, the city of Darmstadt, located in the state of Hessen in central Germany, hosted unique musical gatherings that would eventually become an institution. These “International Summer Courses for New Music” had two

What do you get when you mate a grand piano with a spaceship from planet Stealth? The answer is simple, you get a Bogányi! If you are still confused, just have a look at the attached picture! This appears to

It’s undeniable that higher education has become serious business! Universities across the globe are churning out music graduates in untold numbers. Robert Freeman, former head of the Eastman School of Music, pointedly believes that “we are graduating too many, too

Every pianist knows that the standard grand piano has an 88-key keyboard! And in general, this assumption is certainly correct. However, if you stumble across the Bösendorfer Imperial Model 290 or the Bösendorfer Model 225, you will notice that these

The connection between classical music and political activism of one sort or another is hardly new. When Beethoven disapproved of Napoleon’s shenanigans, he promptly changed the dedication of his Eroica symphony to “the memory of a great hero.” Verdi’s chorus

Violinist Nicole Wilson is a representative of a new breed of orchestral musician, for whom performing is just one strand to her bow. She played with the London Symphony Orchestra for ten years, spent five years as Principal 2nd Violin

CNN: Top 10 greatest orchestras in the world Every day we are presented with lists and rankings that purport to be the ultimate authority on a given subject. From establishing credit worthiness for various nations to slugging percentages of somebody

The Mozarteum University, nestled in the Austrian town of Salzburg, forms an inseparable part of the musical fabric of this artistically and historically rich town. Thomas Manhart from the Mozarteum’s press office tells me how the School that dates back