We think of patrons in music associated with the music of earlier times: Florentine lords and leaders, the Pope, or all those Russian princesses who propped up Russian composers. In America, though, it was the daughter of Chicago wholesaler who

Where does inspiration come from, the spark to create? ….even fairly mundane activities can feed in to the discovery of new insight, new knowledge and new means of expressing ideas in all sorts of ways – Professor John Rink

The eminent cellist, Raya Garbousova, had it all—a gorgeous cello sound, formidable technique, boundless energy, and movie-star allure. Born in Tbilisi, the Capital of the country of Georgia, in 1909, (there are some disputes about her age. Some sources list

In time for Women’s History Month, we should consider the women composers in our world. Hmmm. None come to mind? Expand your thoughts, think of bigger concepts. Think international. Chihchun Chi-sun Lee is a Taiwanese composer who studied in Taiwan

Ralph Vaughan Williams was already an established composer at the onset of the First World War. By 1914, he had created a considerable body of works, including two symphonies and various works for orchestra, an opera and a number of

“Listen to Awesomeness” is a contemporary jargon used to market products related to focused listening – from audiobooks to earphones to DJs streaming music online. Even though the expression rarely exists in the classical music arena, it aptly reflects my

I watched with interest some of the Winter Olympics coverage from South Korea, in particular the snowboarding and skiing. It’s easy to spot the winners – people like Chloe Kim and Redmond Gerard (both from the US team): they display

Between 20th and 23rd November this year, the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire will be home to the first Birmingham International Piano Chamber Music Festival. Artists including the Gould Trio, London Bridge Trio, Katya Apekisheva, Christoph Richter, Esther Hoppe, Alice Neary, Robin