A monster, a violin – and an Oscar?

It’s rare to see the violin celebrated in popular movies, let alone those geared toward children. We can only imagine the positive effect such a film might have on youth involvement in music, though, and that’s what makes the new DreamWorks animated film Abominable so refreshing. In case you’re not familiar with it, the movie … Read more

Chasing the Perfect Trip

You don’t take a trip to an unknown place, hoping to stay in some rat-trap motel that will be “an adventure,” but oddly enough, it was that attitude that cured me of my yearnings for The Perfect Trip. Ever since I was a teen, I’d chased this impossible dream. It started one night during a … Read more

Visit Africa for 99 cents!

Summer is the time for travel, even if it’s just armchair travel. And how’s this for a bargain: A DANCER’S GUIDE TO AFRICA is available through the summer for only 99 cents! Just click HERE. And, okay, so, yeah. I lived in Africa for two years, but, honest, this isn’t an autobiographical work. Although the … Read more

Green Book and Chopin’s stunning Étude

If you’re a moviegoer who follows the Oscars, you might have seen Green Book, a 2018 movie about an Italian-American bouncer who chauffeurs an African-American pianist on a performing tour through the deep South in the 1960s. It stars actors Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen, and I can’t say enough good things about it. What drew me, of … Read more

Mystery revealed: Schubert’s Impromptu No. 3 in G-flat

Tell me if this has ever happened to you: you’re out and about when you hear a brief passage of gorgeous classical music, which never gets identified, and it goes on to haunt you. Here was mine: I was in an art-house cinema years back, sitting in the semidarkness with my husband, waiting for the … Read more