Opinion

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Musicians – Enough With the Servility
Part 2: The Existential Quest for Independent Values
Part Two of this article series was originally going to explore the mindset of musicians with regards to financial support during the Covid-19 pandemic – a call to action for artists to choose innovation and creative thinking over consistent begging
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Keyboard Circus Tricks “Ain’t Got Nothing to Do With Music-Making”
The quote in the title is from celebrated pianist Leon Fleisher, who died in August 2020 at the age of 92. In the many tributes to him, his wisdom and good sense, as a musician and a human being, and
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Is It Time to Lose the Concert Interval?
British pianist Stephen Hough thinks it is, and he makes a persuasive case for it in an article for The Guardian, reminding us that coronavirus has forced us to rethink how we organise and attend concerts. Those who decry the
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In Praise of Audiences
We missed our audiences in the year of pandemic and when they returned, they were sparser than usual due to social distancing. But they are coming back to the concert halls and opera houses, their appetite for live music apparently
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“Music Is an Act of Communication. Without Anyone Listening It Doesn’t Exist”
This quote by English conductor Mark Wigglesworth, from a recent British newspaper article, has resonances with the philosophical statement “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?“ Francis
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Caring for Your Piano
A piano is a significant investment and in order to retain its value and quality, the instrument needs to be well looked after. Many people believe that tuning is all that is required to maintain a piano, but while regular
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History Repeats Itself
Is It an Issue When Musicians Focus on the Release of Small Scale Recorded Projects Instead of Complete Ablums?
The following article came about after the comment on social media of a contemporary composer regretting the focus of many current musicians on the release of small scale recorded projects — in this case, singles — against bigger and what
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Moving On – When It’s Time to Leave Your Piano Teacher
They say that goodbye is one of the hardest things to say, and saying goodbye to your piano teacher can be a difficult decision, especially if you have been taking lessons with that teacher for some time. There are many
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