The pure, true beauty of “O Holy Night”

  Confession: I stopped writing this essay on “O Holy Night,” soured by something I couldn’t name, bogged down by the online research. I set it aside, but the urge returned and I started it up again several days later. Then it happened again, an edgy, almost negative feeling as I read article after article … Read more

Announcing Book 4 of the Ballet Theatre Chronicles

Other Stages is available NOW! Click HERE It is with great pleasure — always one of my favorite posts — that I announce the imminent arrival of my next novel, Other Stages, the fourth and final book of the Ballet Theatre Chronicles. Together now… WOO HOO!!!   They thought the professional ballet world was tough. Then they … Read more

We love you, Michael Tilson Thomas

Last week I called the San Francisco Symphony box office to switch dates for a subscription ticket with a conflict: Sunday’s performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. There was Saturday night availability, but as life has been busy of late, I weighed the pros and cons of deferring to a … Read more

Exploring Grieg’s exquisite piano concerto

I love visualizing the 25-year-old Edvard Grieg in 1868, married just one year and already the father of a newborn daughter, right as his composing career was taking off. I can’t decide if it was artistic zeal or the exhaustion of jugging so many roles that made him seek retreat that summer at a secluded … Read more

World Ballet Day returns in 2023

Celebrating World Ballet Day all month long! Enjoy A Dancer’s Guide to Africa for FREE by clicking HERE. Enjoy the first book of the Ballet Theatre Chronicles, Off Balance, for only 99 cents HERE. And check out your favorite ballet company’s YouTube channel to find archived live-streamed class, rehearsals and interviews from the big day! On Wednesday, November 1, 2023 (in … Read more