When the Skallsjö Sommarorkester was founded in 2013, all the members were between 15 and 18 years old. They loved classical music and believed that classical music had been given an undeservedly bad reputation for being boring and was dying.

World Smile Day is the one day of the year when your face gets to flex its happiest muscles and flash those pearly whites like you’re auditioning for a toothpaste commercial. A smile, after all, is contagious and a good

Benny Goodman, born on 30 May 1909 in Chicago, is often hailed as the “King of Swing.” A clarinettist and bandleader whose innovative music and charismatic performances helped to define the Swing Era of the 1930s and 1940s. His virtuosic

We often forget how great composers were also great improvisers. In fact, when the rules of Western classical music started being defined better, there was not much difference in the creative approach the musicians would have. They were both composers

The Austrian multi-percussionist Martin Grubinger is widely considered one of the world’s foremost percussion artists. Celebrated for his breathtaking versatility and electrifying performances, Grubinger has redefined the role of percussion in classical music. His performances captivate audiences with a rare

Imagine for a moment that you are experiencing every instrumentalist’s worst nightmare. You have poured hundreds of hours of meticulous practice and study into knowing the score for a piece of music inside out, and into questions of interpretation, technique,

Ludwig van Beethoven was, famously, a freelance musician. He didn’t work as a Kapellmeister in a court or an organist in a church. Then, as now, it wasn’t easy to cobble together a living as a working freelance musician. Over

The 19th century and the increasing wealth in the middle class brought refinements to the front parlour of the home, most notably, the large black monster known as the piano. Children were pressed into years of piano study so that