During my time at Cambridge, I was lucky enough to get many opportunities to play in both chamber music and orchestral projects. Now, on the brink of beginning a masters course devoted to orchestral playing, I’ll have a chance to

Antonín DvořákCello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104, B. 191Mstislav RostropovichMoscow Radio Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra When I was a student I would often sneak into the Toronto Symphony Orchestra concerts. My father, who was a member of the cello section,

To orchestrate verb [ with obj. ] 1 arrange or score (music) for orchestral performance. 2 arrange or direct the elements of (a situation) to produce a desired effect Why do people write for orchestra? Because of the larger choice

My Cello and Me — We Were Made for Each Other I was smitten from the first moment. Finding an instrument is like finding your soul mate — you know it instantly. I was twenty- two- years old and had

Theme and variations for Clarinet and Piano ‘You should learn his Theme and Variations’, said my teacher. I was never a fan of variations, but Françaix’s take on the form changed my view of them quite a bit. (I also,

Bach : Saint John PassionPart I: Chorale: Herr, unser Herrscher (Chorus) I am for the first time in my life living with Handel. I lived with Bach earlier this year, when I was involved in performances of his St John

‘Writing about music is like dancing about architecture’. These were the words of Miles Davis. Or was it Elvis Costello? Perhaps it was Thelonius Monk… Or Frank Zappa? Regardless of who said these words (maybe they all uttered it at

The atmosphere was electric! We were at Paris’s Palais Garnier to attend a ballet performance just five days before the one-hundredth anniversary of the riot surrounding the premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring in May of 1913. To top