Musings on ballet, classical music, the violin, and life
The Classical Girl When I heard the news last week that Esa-Pekka Salonen, music director of the San Francisco Symphony, had announced he would step down as music director of the San Francisco Symphony next year, I was so distraught by the news, I’ll admit it: I wept. I love classical music and Esa-Pekka that much. He was only … Read more
Thirty years of success as a ballet company is most decidedly something to celebrate, and this coming weekend (March 22-23) Diablo Ballet will mark this landmark anniversary with a “Stars & Stripes Jubilee” program. Lauren Jonas, the company’s longtime artistic director and cofounder, reflected that it has taken all of those thirty years to arrive … Read more
Exciting news just announced by San Francisco Ballet: encore performance of Swan Lake with thrilling guest artists. Details below! I know some of you, my dear readers, are classical music fans but not ballet fans. Likewise, some among you are just as happy—maybe you even prefer—to see contemporary ballet works set to jazz, soul, even electronica. … Read more
First things first… Today, January 25th, Book 4 of the Ballet Theatre Chronicles, Other Stages, has launched! Woo hoo! From the author of Outside the Limelight—named a Kirkus Best Book of 2017—comes a story about parenting, the performing arts, surviving high school and fighting back, in this gripping finale to the Ballet Theatre Chronicles. “An accomplished interweaving … Read more
Confession: I stopped writing this essay on “O Holy Night,” soured by something I couldn’t name, bogged down by the online research. I set it aside, but the urge returned and I started it up again several days later. Then it happened again, an edgy, almost negative feeling as I read article after article … Read more