The Classical Girl

High Drama: Frank Almond and the Lipinski Strad

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One doesn’t think of the career of a professional violinist as being fraught with peril and high drama, but on the night of January 27th,  violinist Frank Almond, concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and founder of the popular “Frankly Music” series, was leaving a chamber music performance in Wisconsin when a stranger approached him … Read more

Embracing the Dark

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We are not having winter in California this year, although it’s very clear the rest of you are. In regards to that, we’re sorry. Really, we are. The high-pressure system locked into place over our state is pushing the weather north and east of us and dumping it all over you. This is not our … Read more

5 other things I learned from ballet

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This week at The Ajennda (www.theajennda.com) , a dance-related blog run by Jenn Romano, I was invited to contribute to the site’s “What I Learned From Ballet” section. I wrote a ruminative little piece about discovering beauty, grace, within ballet, during my adolescent years in Kansas that seemed otherwise devoid of those things. I also … Read more

10 ways to eat like a ballet dancer

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Over at Q&A, someone asked about what ballet dancers eat. It’s a common enough question; people are thinking if they could get a hold of that diet, that mentality, well, they’d be set for life. Or they have this image of anorexia and lifelong self-denial. I told the reader to dispel the notion of carrot sticks and … Read more

Chopin for Everyone

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I’ve always liked Chopin and I’m wondering now if maybe everyone with at least a hint of classical music under their belt does as well. Particularly ballet peeps: it’s so ideal for pliés and the adagio section of class, or the stretching between barre and center work. One time I was in a San Francisco … Read more