Blogs

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Outdoor Weddings — the Joys and Sorrows
I don’t do outdoor weddings. Weather can wreak havoc. But when my nephew asked me to play for his wedding I responded with a heartfelt resounding, “yes!” To say I was blown away by the ceremony is an understatement.
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The Great Women Artists Who Shaped Music VIII- Doriot Anthony Dwyer
When Doriot Anthony Dwyer, flutist was selected as one of the first woman principal players in a top five U.S. orchestra the press went crazy, “Woman Crashes Boston Symphony: Eyebrows Lifted as Miss Anthony sat at Famous Flutist’s Desk,” “Flutist,
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Instruments of the Orchestra XII: The Tuba
The youngest instrument added to the orchestra is also the largest. At the bottom of the brass section, providing the support to carry all those other brass and wind instruments is the tuba. It made its appearance in the modern
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The Best of Tchaikovsky
Reflections on the 2015 Tchaikovsky Competition
Sadly, the 2015 Tchaikovsky Competition, celebrating the 175th anniversary of the composer’s birth, ended this week. After numerous hours of intense music listening, from thousands of miles away via Medici TV, my adrenaline rush climaxed with the two final galas
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Miss Manners— Chamber Music Style
Most musicians both amateur and professional aspire to play chamber music, some of the greatest works of classical music. It would be difficult to single out a favorite but my list would include the following works— Brahms Piano Quintet, and
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Tuning Up
The orchestra is assembled, the concertmaster comes to the stage, turns his back on the audience and signals the oboist. A pure clear note sounds and then lots of other notes. What is this all about?
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Students and Teachers
School’s out for summer! Well, formal school, but practicing continues on forever. We know how influential our teachers can be so we thought we’d look at teachers of the past and see how curiously far they reach into the present.
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Instruments of the Orchestra XI: The Trombone
The trombone, or large trumpet (Tromba= trumpet, -one= suffix meaning ‘big’) in Italian, is a lower voice in the brass wind ensemble. Unlike the trumpet that started as a simple tube and now has valves, the trombone was always operated
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