How many things can a talented musician do well and still achieve greatness? Read here to find out.
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They say that it is impossible to master musical skills at a professional level if you start late in life. But on at least one occasion, that turned out not to be true. Read on to learn how one senior managed to do it.
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Why is it that the more expert we become, the easier it is to miss the obvious? Why do children often spot errors that adults make? If you want to discover how a single misprinted note led to insight on the phenomenon, read here.
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What connects fly fishermen, rare book collectors, and musicians? If you think you know the answer (or especially if you don’t), read on here.
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How does a parent know when a child is ready to take on a new challenge in life—whether it is riding a bicycle, taking the subway without an adult, or playing a first concert? Sometimes the question is easy to answer. At other times, it appears to be more difficult. READ HERE TO LEARN MORE.
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The choice of a new leader may be the most important decision an organization will make for years. But in the case of classical music organizations, the issues turn out to be complex. Don’t you think it would be desirable to have some background and context for making an informed choice? If so, you might start here.
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Are music critics stupid? As we read what some of them have written over the years about works that were later deemed masterpieces, we might think so. But perhaps there is a simple explanation…and perhaps we too are guilty. Ready to take the simple test here?.
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If one really wants to understand how the music business developed in the second half of the twentieth century, there is no better musical family to study that the Gomberg/Zazofsky clan. Their story and our family’s relationship to theirs provides a behind-the-scenes look that no history book can provide.
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My Uncle Boris Goldovsky’s favorite opera was Mozart’s Don Giovanni and there was nothing more fun for me than playing first flute in his touring opera orchestra night after night, especially when he was on the podium conducting. I was 25 years old the first time I had occasion to so do.
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My grandmother, Lea Luboshutz, joined the violin faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 1928. Her track record as a pedagogue was impressive based on the careers of almost 150 of her students. Much of this success probably was due to her teaching philosophy and her approach.
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The phantom of the opera knows all the nooks and crannies he used to inhabit. But what happens to his ability to roam the halls after a major renovation?
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Why did I write The Nightingale’s Sonata? In the opening pages of the book, I give one answer. My mother had entrusted to me a beautiful silver podstakannik or tea-glass holder with an enameled portrait of my two uncles as children. My family had smuggled it out of Russia and eventually my mother passed it on to me along with boxes of family material. She had said, “You must tell the family story.” I promised I would.
But I had another reason for writing the book. . . .
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