Aweigh in A Major
A composer's thoughts about music and musiciansRuby at Rainbow
As I was hauling groceries to my car, I passed a small, over-bent woman pushing a vertical cart—inches at a time—away from the store into the vastness of the lot. She hesitated, poised as if ready to dive from a great height. I turned back, asking if she needed...
Czerny Lives
I am a latecomer to the piano and to piano chamber music, but that hasn’t diminished my zeal. After years of playing in brass quintets and singing in choirs, I’m exploring the challenges of anchoring a piano-string chamber ensemble. I’m also a big fan of little...
In a Field of Daisies
I come from New York, but Upstate. Only after living in Saint Paul, Minn. did I realize that my hometown of Rochester, N.Y.—which was first nicknamed “The Flour City,” then “The Flower City” when the mills moved west—was essentially a...
Rickman Revenant
We lost Alan Rickman yesterday. The younger generation knows him as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films, but he was a subtle and versatile actor, equally adept at playing characters or leads. His deep voice, warm with affection or dripping with malice, was...
Forgetting Boulez
When I heard of Pierre Boulez’s death the other day, I realized that I had already begun to forget him—Boulez the composer, that is; his recordings as a conductor are everywhere. Boulez once figured ever so slightly in my musical geography. I’ve lived in four...
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