Opinion

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Thou Shall Not Steal
“Good artists copy; great artists steal.” The more I compose and create, the more I agree with this well-known Picasso quote—or Stravinsky for the same matter, as the ambiguity on the ownership persists. Actually, thanks to Cage and his writings,
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Is Classical Music ‘Elitist’? No, But You Might Be!
Classical music has an image problem. Depending on where you hail from in the western world, society as a generalised group will probably have a fairly stark concept of this artistic medium we all hold dear.
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The Hardest Piece?
Piano playing shouldn’t be a competitive activity, yet players are regularly pitted against one another in international music competitions. Alongside this is an ongoing argument about what are the hardest pieces in the pianist’s repertoire.
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Making It in the Music World II
The key point raised in part-one of this article for musicians wanting to make it in the music worlds is to never give up. Many other salient points can be added to your list of requirements to maintain a lifelong
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Who Actually Won @ the 16th Tchaikovsky Competition?
Eleven days (June 17th to 27th) of complete immersion in the 2019 International Tchaikovsky Competition, enduring palm-sweating, heart-racing, and adrenalin-pumping conditions, while witnessing an array of ultra demanding repertoire mastered by especially fine musicians all day – that is my
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A Sense of Ownership
My version of Bach’s C major Prelude will not be the same as yours. Sure, we’ve been working from the same score, processing the same notes, we may even play the piece on the same instrument, but it won’t be
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Making It in the Music World I
If you have been playing and practicing music for most of your life, you probably see those who have made it in concert halls and onto the world stage as amazing beings that transcend most mortal humans. You may be
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Unwritten Things – Going Beyond the Notes
The music is behind those dots. You search for it…I play, so to speak, from the other side of the printed score, looking backVladimir Horowitz The notated musical score is a wonderful thing. Contained within it are myriad markings, signs,
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