Blogs

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Alternative New Years Playlist
The New Year period is a rare occurrence where we take time to look both forwards and backwards. It is an opportunity to take stock of where we are, and many New Years, spent in the company of family and
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When Being a Principal Player is Nerve Wracking
Last year I wrote about what the associate principal cello does. As the person who held that position with the Minnesota Orchestra, I must admit, I often would ruminate that playing a concerto as soloist seemed easier than playing the
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A Musical Diet
It is often said that what one eats is what one is, or becomes. Indeed, food fuels the human body, and good, diverse, nutritious quality food is key to a strong and durable body. It is of course the provider
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The Father of Piano: Muzio Clementi
If you are a pianist, you probably have heard of Clementi and played his six piano sonatinas, Op.36. Indeed, Clementi was one of the most influential classical keyboard composers in music history. I was introduced to his piano sonatas years
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AI Composes Classical Music
David Cope
Algorithms have taken over our everyday. They are used virtually everywhere, from financial institutions to Google Search, Facebook News Feed, Date Matching, and myriads of online services like Amazon and Netflix. Basically, computer scientists describe algorithms “as a set of
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Thoughts on Private Tuition
While many musicians learn from schools and academies, others learn from private teachers and through one-to-one lessons. But with all the different modes of education, teaching, and transmission of knowledge, there is a constant teacher, in common to all; the
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Dancing the Classics
Bach, Schubert, Debussy and Mozart
Bodily movement is such a natural and emotional response to music. I think that dance has been a part of human culture since the very beginning. It is a way of communicating, celebrating, and expressing an infinite number of feelings,
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Happy New Year
Johann Strauss Jr.’s Die Fledermaus “Overture”: “The Bat” in Arrangement
Ever since I was a little girl, my parents made me watch the New Year’s concert of the Vienna Philharmonic. Apparently, as they kept telling me, “it is good for you.” They needn’t have worried, because I loved to watch
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