Category Musical Passion
Bell – Then and Now
I’m pretty sure I saw Joshua Bell in Wichita in 1994. But until a minute ago I was pretty sure 1994 was the 25th anniversary season of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra. It was not – I just learned that 1994 was the 50th anniversary season of my hometown symphony. 1994 was also the year I […]
Back to School?
The New Horizons String Orchestra is an organization that formed at the Eastman School of Music to allow non-professional, non-traditional student musicians the opportunity to participate in orchestras. It’s a nationwide organization, with instantiations in 90 or so different locales. Locally, there is one at DePaul University just down the road from me in Lincoln […]
Aspiring to Well-Tempered
Johann Sebastian Bach is a favorite of violinists – of all musicians, I assume. I wrote a post a while back about Hilary Hahn and her appreciation of the great Baroque composer and organist, and his music’s usefulness, in her view, for both tempering a crowd at a nightclub in Berlin as well as for […]
Patience But
I have been accepted into the Saturday Chamber Music workshop in Naperville despite my late registration, but I still have no music. The coordinator e-mailed me late last night and indicated she would send me music this morning. I sure hope so! I really need to get going on it. Serendipitously, Teacher moved today’s lesson […]
Chamber of One?
Due to my back pain extravaganza, I registered quite late for the chamber music festival I mentioned a while back. I missed the deadline, and while Teacher said that would probably be OK (she checked with the organizers) the main practical effect is that I have not had the same amount of time with the […]
Musical Weekend
I had a musical weekend, of my own making at home. I played for two and a half hours each day on Sunday and Monday, and I watched a couple of videos I want to share. The first is Ray Chen playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, a fun, worthy performance. He’s extremely engaged with the audience […]
Recital II
My father-in-law and brother-in-law have been visiting from Virginia this week, and last night I had the opportunity to play my violin for them for a bit. It was my second little recital ever, the first being back at Christmastime. It was a treat to get to play my instrument for my father-in-law. Faithful readers […]
Rapturous Joy; Divinity
A few weeks back I wrote about The Minnesota Orchestra’s goodwill tour of Cuba – the musicians gave two concerts in Havana and participated in other educational programs while on the tour. Learning of that excursion was my first exposure to the organization. The Orchestra has gained some acclaim for its recordings – two are […]
That Was Some Break
I’ve been traveling with friends, so my last post was 6 days ago. I also haven’t played since last Wednesday’s lesson, when Teacher left with my bow to take it in for re-hairing and repairing. We returned to Chicago Monday night, so yesterday morning before work I headed out to the suburbs to get the […]
Ryan Libel 