A brand new opera written in direct response to the coronavirus crisis receives its premiere at Grange Park Opera (GPO) in September. Commissioned by GPO, with a libretto by director, producer and librettist Sir David Pountney, A Feast in the

What is the function of music? Can it be considered as useful? If so, what is its value? There are many answers to these questions, and each is debatable. What is sure though, is that music is everywhere. In our

The Benefits of Art Sounds and Some Recommendations Pollution, rain, fog, mist, wallpaper, machinery, people, the sounds of wildlife and music all exist as part of the surrounding ambience. Throughout most of history, music was never thought of as a

The tradition theremin, developed in the early 20th century by Léon Theremin and patented in 1928, looks like a box with antennas. It’s not stylish, it really only has one sound and it’s not even something you want in your

Artists are taught tradition in order to innovate. While there are some discussions about tradition and innovation, they are both essential to the wellbeing of art, to progress and continuity. I like to think that one looks at the past,

Athletes and experts in peak performance understand very well the concept of “tapering” – a significant reduction in training load in the days before a competition which is, paradoxically, thought to have the effect of optimising performance. This often involves

A large aspect of an orchestral wind player’s life can involve playing auxiliary instruments – instruments that you learn alongside your main instrument, for example the bass clarinet, cor anglais, piccolo or contrabassoon. Not everyone specialises on auxiliary instruments: firstly,

It starts quietly, a haunting nostalgic hymn-like sequence of gentle chords in both hands. A few bars in, the bass accompaniment changes into a gently undulating pattern of broken fourths, anchored by a low F. In this opening section, Glass