By Brian Wise Even for Rachel Barton Pine—who has used the violin soloist’s bully pulpit to promote the pioneering American violinist Maud Powell, an original edition of Bach sonatas and partitas, and an ongoing heavy metal outfit (Earthen Grave)—her latest…
Compiled by Megan Westberg and Stephanie Powell The giving of gifts is a complicated undertaking. It isn’t only about the tastes of the recipient; there’s also the spirit of the gift to consider (practical or purely for fun?) as one…
Alongside composer John Harbison's achievements working with voices and symphony orchestras, chamber music for strings plays a central role in Harbison’s oeuvre.
By Marcia Peck For me, it was “Shosholoza.” The Minnesota Orchestra had just played a full concert plus encores in Regina Mundi, the modest Catholic church in Soweto that represents the heart and soul of the struggle to end Apartheid in…
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Violinists Elena Urioste and Melissa White stopped by the Strings studio to perform their own arrangement of “The Star Spangled Banner.” The pair also shared tips from their Intermission program, which encourages a union of yoga, meditation and music-making. Watch…
If you’re still stressing out about what to buy the music lover in your life for the holidays, relax. We’ve done the heavy-lifting for you—Strings tapped seven players and asked them about the best gift they have ever given to…
By Anna Pulley “Life is fleeting and transformation to another state is inevitable.” This is the underlying concept of Memento Mori, a series of new works for solo viola featuring Ensemble Dal Niente violist Ammie Brod. This quest to stop time as…
By Laurence Vittes Aaron Jay Kernis/James Newton Howard/Bramwell Tovey James Ehnes, violin; Andrew Armstrong, piano; Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Ludovic Morlot, cond.; Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Cristian Macelaru, cond. (Onyx) James Ehnes is one of the most sublime virtuosos operating nowadays. He…
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Sponsored by National Symphony Orchestra The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) Summer Music Institute is a four-week training program at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, for dedicated student instrumentalists, ages 15-20. July 1-29, 2019 Deadline: January 22, 2019 This tuition-free…
Applying pronation unvaryingly can cause collapsing and locking in the third and fourth fingers. Here's a way to avoid collapsing 3rd and 4th fingers on cello.
It sounds like something out of a fairy tale. Discovered in the attic of a German castle in the late 1800s after being untouched—and forgotten—for a century and a half, the 1704 “Sleeping Beauty” Stradivari violin has the kind of…
By Stephanie Powell The Colburn School has just announced the launch of its Negaunee Conducting Program, which will be led and overseen by maestro Esa-Pekka Salonen. Salonen will develop a course of study for a select group of aspiring young…
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The Martin Hayes Quartet, made up of fiddlers Martin Hayes and Liz Knowles, guitarist Dennis Cahill, and bass clarinetist Doug Wieselman, stopped by the Strings studio to perform a few reels: “Oisin/Bold Doherty” and “Frank Keane’s Reel/Brennan’s Reel.”
By Corey Oiler Greetings, fellow string enthusiasts! I am a second-year graduate student majoring in cello performance at the school of music at Sacramento State University. I’m also studying pedagogy by working as an apprentice teacher in the String Project…
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Renaud Capuçon performed together in Paris on November 11, marking the centenary of Armistice. The ceremony took place at the edge of the Arc de Triomphe, where Ma performed the sarabande from Bach’s Suite No.…
By Dale Henderson I heard the music before I saw the musicians—a driving, rhythmic, energetic band of ten professional cellists. Outside on this cold but sunny Seattle day, the live music felt hip and novel, which was impressive since they…
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By Inge Kjemtrup Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 always lands in the top ten of any list of the most popular and frequently performed classical pieces. That’s why it’s a cornerstone of the repertory for concert violinists such as…
“Whenever you try anything new, you have to be OK with sucking for a while,” Jeremy Kittel says. It’s a surprising statement on two counts. One: “something new” could be shorthand for Kittel’s entire career. Over the course of four…
Luthiers Julia Felix and R. Alex Wilson share advice about what teens can do now to improve their chances of being successful with lutherie later on.
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