Musings on ballet, classical music, the violin, and life
I’m an adult beginning on the violin and it’s been a rollicking adventure, chronicled here.
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
It’s New Year’s Eve, which means it’s the night I throw a posh dinner party and serve French onion soup. We’re talking the from-scratch kind, that starts with good beef stock. Now I should tell you, making homemade beef stock is not for those who are looking for the short cut in life. You have … Read more
(This essay originally appeared in the L.A. Daily News on 12/11/2005) December, the “season of cheer,” never fails to evoke ambivalent feelings in me. Yes, there are the twinkling lights and ringing of bells; crimson and gold decorations adorning shops; the intoxicating whiffs of Christmas wreaths and kitchens redolent of freshly-baked cookies. But December is … Read more
Okay, so it sounds like a horrible, cheesy infomercial. But the truth is this: if you’ve always wanted to play the violin, or have mused about what it must be like, but you’re thinking, nah, too much involved, well, I’m just saying, the opportunity might be closer than you imagine. I know this works … Read more
August 22nd was Claude Debussy’s 151st birthday. To mark this, a fellow Violinist.com member, Riz Ramadhan, shared a recording, his performance of Debussy’s classic, “Beau Soir,” (arr for piano and violin by Jascha Heifetz). Beau Soir translates as “beautiful night” and Claude Debussy composed this little piece while still a student, based on a poem … Read more