The end of January sees the UK deadline fast-approaching for self-employed people up and down the country to submit their ‘Self Assessment’ tax returns. Sight reading, much like filing tax forms, is something that makes sense in theory, but can

Many orchestra musicians start professional careers soon after graduating from a conservatory music performance program. There is a good chance that aspiring orchestra musician already gained first experience in ensembles, school orchestras, or by temping in a civic ensemble. After

We really can’t think of two more contrasting composers than Mozart and Mussorgsky – the first is a composer for whom the melodies flowed like water and the second a man for whom music was difficult to bring to completion

For American composer Henry Cowell (1897-1965), the piano wasn’t just an instrument where you sat down at the piano stool and played the keys. He used the pianist as the sound generator for all kinds of sounds on the piano.

To land a permanent position in a symphony orchestra is a dream for many classically trained musicians. It offers job security, a good salary, medical benefits, and probably most importantly, “the opportunity to play regularly with other outstanding musicians. Orchestra

Erwin Schulhoff: Five Pieces for String Quartet Gaviil Popov: Quartet-Symphony The Quartet Berlin-Tokyo has issued a new CD with works by the Czech composer Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942) and the Soviet composer Gavriil Popov (1904-1972). Each composer struck the genre with

Legendary violinist Lea Luboshutz, was one of the first female soloists to be internationally recognized, and yet her name is not well-known. In 2019 Thomas Wolf, Ms Luboshuz’s grandson, illuminated her place in history in his book The Nightingale’s Sonata—The

With the Meiji Restoration in 1868, Japan began to modernize. Western systems and Western technology were adopted and Western music was allowed to return after a 250-year absence. The Tokyo Academy of Music opened in 1887 and one of its