By Judy Pollard Smith A wave of musical words has washed over me during the past seven years. They are lovely words that swoop like a charm of goldfinches, words that hush and lull, words that turn me inside out. I…
The Cleveland Orchestra suspended concertmaster William Preucil (with pay) in July over allegations of sexual harassment and assault. Preucil, who has served as concertmaster since 1995, was suspended in response to a recent Washington Post exposé, in which violinist Zeneba…
By Laurence Vittes Alisa Weilerstein‘s first album for Pentatone—brilliant performances of Haydn’s two cello concertos with an appropriately starry-eyed recording of Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht—marks the first recorded fruit of her new multi-season role as artistic partner of Norway’s celebrated Trondheim…
In 1984, Daniel Avshalomov, violist of the American String Quartet, had a 14-year-old viola. “I had a pretty standard rant against old instruments, which was essentially that, of the great makers, not many made a lot of violas. Of those…
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By Rebecca Rego Barry In 1929, Albert Einstein told the Saturday Evening Post, “If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician.” By then Einstein was world-renowned for his theory of relativity, but only a few knew…
Violin maker David Bonsey and bow makers George Rubino and Lynn Armour Hannings offer advice on finding a new bow
Ask violinist Elena Urioste what’s in her case and she’ll practically unearth a treasure trove. There are various tools that complement Urioste’s busy touring life: a chin-rest tightener, flyers for her Intermission music-and-yoga retreats, a spare bridge (a must ever…
By Laurence Vittes Cellist Nicolas Altstaedt, continuing ascent as a major international soloist, festival director and most recently conductor, has depended not just on virtuosity but in creating whole new paradigms for making classical music. In doing so, his schedule…
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By Cassandra Sotos I have been a full-time professional musician for several years—fortunate to have enough opportunities to keep my head spinning, but still growing both as an artist and as a person. I’ve been blessed to see most of the…
By Patrick Sullivan For some young string players, the first steps into songwriting can feel terrifyingly akin to walking off a cliff. Carrie Rodriguez remembers it well. After the Austin-born singer-songwriter begged her mom for a violin at age five,…
Kittel & Co., made up of violinist Jeremy Kittel, guitarist Quinn Bachand, and mandolinist Joshua Pinkhan, stopped by the Strings studio to perform two pieces off of their latest album Whorls. Watch the trio perform “The Boxing Reels” and “Pando”…
By Laurence Vittes Former Minnesota concertmaster Jorja Fleezanis is not afraid to be a role model. At Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music she holds the Dorothy Richard Starling Chair in Violin, is the head coach and creative director of the…
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By James N. McKean There is very little that can be as pleasurable as opening a box from one of my suppliers and taking out a set of finely made pegs and a matching tailpiece. It’s one of those things,…
By Clifton Harrison Ives’ Second Quartet is a work of conversation, discussion, argument, and reconciliation. Ives himself described it as such. I see it as an abstract expression of human interaction using language that is quintessentially modern. Each of the…
Sponsored Story by Luis and Clark Zuill Bailey is a Juilliard-educated, Grammy award-winning cellist, philanthropist, and Music Director of the Sitka Summer Music Festival and Artistic Director of El Paso Pro Musica. But most importantly, he is an educator. Zuill recently…
Many composers might balk at being asked to compose a song on the spot for an entire orchestra, but not Ben Folds. The singer-songwriter, pianist, and record producer, best known for his years with the alternative rock band Ben Folds Five,…
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By Laurence Vittes The universe of concertos for violin and cello just received a little extra attention with husband-and-wife duo Jan Vogler and Mira Wang‘s latest recording on Sony Classics. The pair, who first played the Brahms Double Concerto together in…
Violinist Francisco Fullana stopped by the Strings studio to perform two pieces. Watch the 2018 Avery Fisher Career Grant winner perform J.S. Bach’s Violin Partita No. 3 in E major, prelude and Fritz Kreisler’s Recitativo und Scherzo in our latest…
Yamaha celebrated 30 years of its Young Performing Artists Program (YYPA) in Indianapolis in late June. The program, which formed in 1988 to recognize rising stars and offer mentorship, has named 300 musicians as recipients since the program’s inception. A…
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