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One can’t talk about the viola without including the viola joke. Today we explore the viola, its sometimes lonely existence, and its far too few moments in the spotlight. Stephen Weiss comments at the close about an up and coming violist/composer. There’s a lot to the viola we should give credit, where its due. I hope you enjoy this episode, and pay respects to our cohorts living in the world of t...

Astor Piazzolla grew up playing bandoneon in tango orchestras in New York City where he met Carlos Gardel. He would return to Argentina to study music composition with Alberto Ginastera, move to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger, and eventually become the world’s greatest tango composer. Piazolla revolutionized the tango to a style now termed neuvo tango. Today we explore the composition he wrot...

J.S. Bach wrote a lot of monumental works and the Chaconne for violin is one of the great masterpieces in the repertoire for solo violin. Aside from the many recordings, there are countless transcriptions for piano, orchestra and chamber groups. Violinists get hooked on the Chaconne early in their pursuit of the violin, but it takes decades to master the piece. For some, like Arnold Steinhardt of...

There’s a signifigant amount of stigma among classical musicians when it comes to improvisation. But it wasn’t always this way. The Italian conservatories certainly taught improvisation in the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (Episode 73). The composers from most schools of music learned to improvise. So its mainly performers who don’t take improv seriously. When a concerto soloist p...

2024 will see development of Web 3. We’re already seeing marketplaces for non-fungible tokens, and the on-going creation of blockchain technology. Music NFT’s are available to creators and buyers. Though these seem expensive, the novelty is what sells, and the notion that we can be our own entrepreneurs is what drives the innovation. Blockchains are a peer-to-peer entity. For musicians this means...

Barbara Krakauer taught violin in New York during the year and then took her students to Provence France each summer for a three week retreat or “Stage” as the French name it. Katie Kresek and Colin Pip Dixon are two violinists who studied with Mrs. Krakauer in their youth, attended the Stage multiple summers and in their early adulthood assisted Barbara Krakauer in lessons in New York and France....

The Symbolist movement was definitely a revolution. Artists, composers, authors and poets wanted to break away from the rules. And can you blame them? Today art means personal expression. Looking back we see times when art seemed to build on the past. The Symbolists were interested in infusing mystery, perfume, eerieness, unclear lines, fog and a little bit of magic into their music. The gamelan o...

We’ve seen music adapt to new technologies over the last one hundred years . Formats determined song length: when singles had to fit on a 33 rpm vinyl record, for example. Hits in the 50’s, 60’s 70’s, and up until the 2000’s were three and a half minutes because that was the duration of a 33 rpm “side”. Today Spotify determines the average listener moves on after 30 seconds. What does this do to f...

When digital downloads made it easy to get music for free, artists had to make big adjustments. Loyal fans would still buy CD’s but the handwriting was on the wall. We see a shift to concert tours and an increase in the ticket prices. Today we rely on philanthropy on every level in the Arts. Consider which musicians and causes you’ll support this Giving Tuesday (November 28). Enjoy the Thanksgivin...

Applying scientific knowledge to music inevitably changes the course of what gets published, what gets popular. In the earliest electrical adaptation- the phonograph- we find certain instruments and certain ranges work better than others. As a result some artists’ careers are defined by the invention of the phonograph. Also- particular instruments became associated with certain genres of music sim...

The Violins of Hope, visiting cities around the world, makes a seven week stop in Pittsburgh. They are both a museum exhibit and an interactive display because Violins of Hope lets musicians play on their violins for concerts and educational programs. The instruments (including over 70 violins violas, cello and bass) have a rich history that relate to the lives of their Jewish owners during World...

In 1820 François Sudre, a musician and a music teacher, created a language based on the musical scale. For twenty years he worked to complete this auxlang. He offered it to the military first, calling it La Telephone. For a while his language was considered because it seemed codeable. When the government declined, he continued writing the language in the hopes people wouldn’t need to learn foreign...

Christopher is known to the world of trumpet players as a clinician, YouTuber and multi-career classical trumpeter. Today he talks about his passion for teaching young players and sheperding them through the rigorous audition process. The auditions for Military Bands are both special and similar to symphonies. He gets into the particulars about excerpts and we get a picture of life as a Military M...

Being a performer and a union member doesn’t usually compute. The two seem to be worlds apart. Thats why its hard for musicians to join committees and negotiating panels. They play on a stage for a living. And this might seem glamourous, maybe even powerful, and anything but mundane. And Unions seem like trouble makers for blue collar workers, teachers, electricians, service industry workers and f...

Marc Reisman is bringing together over 34 musicians at the Thunderbird Cafe in Laurenceville on October 26 to celebrate the music and the milestones he shared with friends and colleagues in the music scene of the ‘Burgh. Joining him on stage will be Joe Grushecky, Billy Price, Ernie Hawkins, Bill Toms, Melinda Colaizzi, Jon Bindley, Gil Snyder, Peter King, Wil Kondrich, Don Hollowood, Richard Slei...

Composition was a practical skill in Naples in the sixteenth century. There were over 3000 Churches in need of music. And they needed lots of musicians and singers too. The conservatories pumped out a lot of music apprentices, organists, singers, instrumentalists. These conservatories and the churches they served made up a large portion of the economy, and the welfare system in Naples. Naple’s con...

The Pittsburgh PNC Broadway Series opens the Season with the 2021 Tony Award winner for Best Musical Moulin Rouge. Katie Kresek is the original Concertmaster for the Broadway production and talks today about the orchestration and her role in that regard. Stephen Weiss will become the latest violinist to perform the Concertmaster role in the touring production when he steps into the Benedum Pit on...

There’s Hard Rock, Classic Rock, Rock and Roll, Early Rock. How do we decide where it started, and who wrote the first Rock and Roll Song? Its like asking when did a chicken originally come out of the egg. Chuck Berry was the first to write the lyrics “Rock n’Roll” in his hit Roll Over Beethoven. We’re getting warmer. And does it really matter. When it comes to crowning the Rock n’ Roll Era, we’ve...

The Beo String quartet is in its second decade and remains in Pittsburgh because they recognize the city’s artistic and logistic values. With Artist Residencies in several states, they maintain a vigorous schedule of concerts, recording, video production, music publication and educational programs. But there is so much more: they are dedicated to expanding their audience by including styles found...

Does Classical Music carry a note of elitism, maybe even a mystique? Or is classical music just a bit confusing? Classical music shouldn’t be for just some of our society: it is intended for the masses. Most of the time. But there are a few decades where classical music went a bit high brow and academic. Maybe some people think Classical Music is always trying to be snobbish. But lately Symphony O...

Gershwin and Ellington came from different corners of the musical world. They both started their careers in New York: Gershwin started in Tin Pan Alley where songwriters and “songpluggers”, worked in department stores to sell instruments and songs. Ellington was drawn to the poolrooms and the ragtime pianists. Both a product of their times, and […] This is a public episode. If you would like to di...

Pythagoros was a polymath: He dabbled in so many subjects including the mathmatics behind the musical scale. Today’s scale is not that far off from what he proposed 2,500 years ago. His passion for harmony within the universe was a gift and a curse. At least he started things in the right direction. He just […] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or g...

The key to holding listeners’ attention is to keep them wondering what the composer will do next. Whether its a film score, rock band or a classical music concert hall, audiences want to have experiences ranging from astonishment and surprise to awe and amazement. The twentieth century saw a wave of shock and disruption in […] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other...

In the twentieth century music moves toward avant-garde or experimental and controversial. John Milton Cage (1912-1992) was an American composer who embraced all of these. A pioneer in chance music, he used non-standard instruments including pianos altered by putting objects in the piano strings to make unique sounds. Cage studied with Henry Cowell and Arnold […] This is a public episode. If you w...

He’s been called the Father of American Music. Maybe we can learn a bit more about him and how he really viewed the African American roots found in much of his music. Scholar Deane Root proposes educating people about the meaning of the Statue that was removed due to public protest. Stephen Foster lived in […] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or ge...