Blogs

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William Grant Still: Thirteen Facts About the Great American Composer
Composer William Grant Still, Jr., had one of the most fascinating careers in the history of American classical music. He was born in an era of segregation and racial violence when his creative voice was ignored by white institutions sheerly
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Berlioz in Life and Pictures
The last time we looked at a man with distinctive hair, we were looking at the representations of Beethoven. Now we can look at another B composer, Hector Berlioz (1803-1869). His hair was also a defining part of his imagery
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Khatia Buniatishvili: Top 5 Performances of the Controversial Pianist
Khatia Buniatishvili is a shining star of the online piano world. Her videos have racked up millions upon millions of views; every month, 1.5 million listeners tune into her performances on Spotify; and our 2021 article about her is one
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Baby’s Day Out
John Alden Carpenter’s Adventures in a Perambulator
John Alden Carpenter (1876–1951), although forgotten now, was one of the leading American composers of the early 20th century. Both his songs and his orchestral music were performed widely, and, at the height of his fame, he was the only
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Emma Bardac: The Scandalous Story of Debussy’s Second Wife
Her affair with Debussy resulted in a scandal that split the Parisian music world apart – and almost led to the death of Debussy’s first wife. Today we’re looking at the life of Emma Bardac-Debussy: singer, legendary conversationalist, wife, mother,
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When Art Meets Art
It is quite a natural process for different artistic worlds to meet, and over the centuries this has happened so many times that we often ignore it, although it has taken very different shapes and forms. In fact, many artists
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Charles Ives’ Calcium Light Night
Charles Ives’ wonderfully named Calcium Light Night started its life as a piece for piccolo, clarinet, cornet, trombone, bass drum, and four pianists on two pianos. It depicts traditional fraternity parades on the campus of Yale University, which Ives attended
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Why is the “Maestro” Teaser Trailer So Controversial?
Buzz is building in the classical music world about Bradley Cooper’s new film Maestro, which chronicles the life and loves of Leonard Bernstein. Today we’re sitting down and examining the first teaser trailer and answering some of the questions that
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