Classical music has a bad rap. Despite current research that indicates music education enhances all learning, reverses the effects of poverty and dementia, and encourages empathy, publicity departments seem to think they must exert themselves to market classical music. Their

Just about every product on sale in a modern supermarket offers consumers a money back guarantee. The concept is not new. It originated with the 18th-century entrepreneur Josiah Wedgewood as a marketing strategy to shift more goods. Since then, the

Aren’t you just sick and tired of lazy and unimaginative programming justified by the eternal excuse, “I am just giving my audience what they want to hear!”

The Kronos Quartet is famous for commissioning works that cover the widest possible range of musical and experimental genres. The founder David Harrington once explained, “I’ve always wanted the string quartet to be vital, and energetic, and alive, and cool,

Buying a piano for home use is a highly personal choice. It depends on a number of variables, including instrument style, brand, color and shape. Generally speaking, however, we look for instruments within a certain budget range, and one that

If you walk from Baker Street along Marylebone Road, you are greeted with hoards of tourists stampeding their way towards Madame Tussaud’s to gape at the wax models within. However, if you dare to push past the crowds and wander

The business of designing and building musical instruments was long in the exclusive domain of men. Or so we have been led to believe! But there was at least one woman who kicked ass in this male dominated world. Her

It’s easy to forget that the creation of a new piece usually involves a substantial amount of money changing hands to ensure that the composer is paid fairly. Trusts and foundations, organisations such as the BBC, or private donations have