Category Musical Passion
Looks Are Not Everything
Recently, I’ve discovered another pop violinist – David Garrett. He is a crossover performer, like Vanessa Mae, and has quite a following. He’s German, and was, as most famous violinists were, a child prodigy. Wikipedia reports that the German president gave him his first Stradivarius at the age of 11. Garrett’s showy style evolved over […]
Bach is Beautiful
Well I’m enamored of these minuets. As I’ve developed a basic competency playing the first one, and am at the spot where I can start to hear what the second one is getting at, I have come to the conclusion that I love Bach. To hear teacher refer to him, I think all violinists do. […]
The German-ness of Bruch
While I have yet to see them, The Evanston Symphony Orchestra plays out of a venue on the campus of Northwestern University not too far from us Chicago north siders. I started to learn more about them as I began looking for local performances of violin concertos. Evanston’s 2013-2014 season features four concerts, and in […]
Bach Minuets in Suzuki
I have been trying to find out more about the Bach Minuet I’m playing – the first of three in Suzuki Book 1 for Violin. It is more difficult than I thought it would be to pin these minuets down. Let’s stick to the facts: A minuet is a dance, the music to which is […]
Opus 61 – The Beethoven Violin Concerto
As I’ve been listening to some of the best violin concertos in the world, I’ve recently been cultivating a passion for Beethoven’s – Opus 61. The first time I noticed it I had just fallen for Tchaikovsky’s, and something about Beethoven’s seemed less spectacular. I don’t feel that way anymore – the themes in Beethoven […]
The Stradivari Society
Chicago fine violin dealer Bein and Fushi is one of the pre-eminent sellers of high-end violins in the world. I have not visited the store, on South Michigan Avenue, but I would like to soon. An outgrowth of the shop is The Stradivari Society. The Society acts as a broker between talented young musicians and […]
Music and Mindfulness
A few weeks ago I wrote a post on Music and Morality, opening with a quote by Roger Scruton, “To suggest that people who live with a metric pulse as a constant background to their thoughts and movements are living in the same way, with the same kind of attention and the same pattern of […]
It Is Well with My Soul
Growing up, few songs moved me as much as The Great Hymn of the Faith It Is Well with My Soul. The head pastor of the church I grew up in had a near obsession with the hymn – though we always had a music minister in the church, the pastor often led the congregation […]
Vanessa Mae – Violinist, Olympian
I love a renaissance human. Vanessa Mae, world famous violinist, is also an Olympic athlete. She is the lone qualifier from the country of Thailand, in Alpine Skiing, and for the Olympics she is competing as Vanessa Vanakom, her Thai father’s family name. I have to confess to not knowing Vanessa Mae before seeing her […]
The Lipinski Heist – Solved!
The Lipinski Stradivarius has been recovered. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports two of three people involved in the heist are in custody. The New York Times identifies them as Universal Knowledge Allah and Salah Ibin Jones. Jones is identified as the primary suspect; he was also convicted about 15 years ago for the theft of […]
Ryan Libel 