Musings on ballet, classical music, the violin, and life
If it’s not about classical music, ballet or the violin, you’ll find it here.
It’s Halloween, and you’re looking for that perfect spooky Halloween music that’s a little more sophisticated than “The Monster Mash” and “Thriller” and “Werewolves of London.” Look no further, friends. I’ve done my own hopping around over the past two days to see what others consider to be their Top 10 classical spooky faves. My … Read more
It’s impossible to watch a live performance of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 without thinking about the 1996 Australian movie, Shine. A few Sundays ago I attended the San Francisco Symphony and took in Garrick Ohlsson’s excellent performance of the concerto. Movie reference aside, I love this piece of music. I love all the Rachmaninov piano … Read more
We’ve all had them. They made our faces flame as we stood there and desperately wished the ground would open up and swallow us whole. But instead we stuttered our way out of the awkward situation and prayed for time to fast forward to the day where we could chuckle about it, think, “ah, that … Read more
Editor’s note on April 28, 2016. Yet more changes announced this week. See link below. Changes, did I say? How about “Pennsylvania Ballet dumps, well, pretty much everybody who’d been in charge.” But, well, that’s an awfully long title for a blog, and perhaps a touch histrionic. And I’m not trying to be all theatrical and … Read more
I have decided to quit my weekly violin lessons, after nine years. This is a daunting prospect, but it feels like it’s time. I’m burnt out; I simply can’t continue to make time for it, keep up on the material, week after week. Years back, I’d assumed that having a child move on from elementary … Read more