We’re used to the two basic rhythms: duple and triple. Duple or two is because we have two feet – left-right, one-two, and off we march. Triple is for dancing, like a waltz. The fun comes when they get combined

She was among the greatest pianists of the nineteenth century…and yet if music lovers know her name at all, it’s because she made a terrifying cameo in Berlioz’s memoirs. Today we’re looking at the life of great pianist Camille Marie

American composer John Adams (b. 1947) made his name in minimalism. He brought the contemporary into contemporary opera by using recent historical events (Nixon in China, The Death of Klinghoffer, Doctor Atomic) for his subject matter. His work in smaller

Cellist Jacqueline du Pré was a musical meteor. She was born in Oxford, England, in 1945, asked for a cello at the age of four, and made her Wigmore Hall debut at the age of sixteen. When she was twenty,

In the ‘normal’ lives depicted in opera, our main characters are surrounded by servants – someone to bring the tea or the coffee, or drinks at the party, or whatever little things need to be handled in the background. In

When you attend an orchestra concert you witness wonderful music-making from a singular group of musicians who seemingly play “as one.” If it’s an orchestra of stature some of the players will remain in their positions an entire lifetime—sometimes decades—and

When we hear an artist perform, we can’t help but wonder if there’s at least a dose of magic involved. The alchemy we witness though, is the culmination of years of concentrated training, experimentation, and study. Mastering our instruments is

What is a children’s opera? To my understanding, a children’s opera is an opera but shorter in length and often with themes suitable for children to watch. The most known and oldest children’s opera perhaps traces all the way back