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Musical Instruments and Inventions: Adolphe Sax
We don’t think of instruments as having been “invented” – they just have been there forever. In some cases, though, instruments do have a definite hand guiding them and none more so than the Saxophone.
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Why Are Male Harpists So Rare?
Music is, unfortunately, no stranger to sexism. Right through the pop world to the lands of orchestras and opera, gender bias occurs more often than people wish to admit. So why do more girls play the harp, and how did
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Recycling and the Music Trade
Recycling isn’t a new idea and one of the very odd ways in which instrument makers could benefit was in how they acquired their leather for making the pads for their woodwind instruments.
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The Men in My Life: Stand Partners Two and Three
My stand partner for twenty years in the Minnesota Orchestra was another veteran, Robert Jamieson. He was the polar opposite of aggressive, gruff and passionate Shirley Tabachnick. Jamieson was a stoic and private gentleman of Scottish heritage. He had been
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Eating through the Ears
When I get back to Hong Kong next week, I am very much looking forward to a special lunch. An internationally renowned chef has opened his own restaurant! I can already tell you that the food will be beyond delicious
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Designing Sound
We all know what a piano looks like – large and square, if it’s an upright; or large and black, if it’s a concert grand. Yet, through the years, piano makers have done many explorations into the design of piano
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Tchaikovsky in the Hands of Two Masters
Two visiting orchestras will bring a lot of Tchaikovsky to Guangzhou this year, with appearances by the St. Petersburg Philharmonic under Yuri Temirkanov and the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Vassily Sinaisky. Both conductors are Russian, Temirkanov has led the St.
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Everything Old is New Again:
Orff and Carmina Burana
We went to a performance recently of Orff’s Carmina Burana and really welcomed the rare chance to hear a performance of the work on stage. This is a work that is more heard on the radio or as part of
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