Below is a selection of articles from publications including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, BBC Music Magazine, Symphony and Strings.
When It’s Time to Rename Your Orchestra
Symphony.org, September 2024
Multiple orchestras have changed their names recently. What’s behind all the rebranding and renaming?
Tours de Force
BBC Music Magazine, April 2024
What secrets lurk behind the stages of the world’s great concert halls? To find out, I took backstage tours of five leading concert halls and venues in London and New York.
How Orchestras Are Battling Concert Ticket Scams
Symphony.org, April 2024
Once seen as freewheeling marketplaces with last-minute deals, ticket resale websites are coming under scrutiny for deceptive practices that can mar orchestras’ relationships with audiences.
Beyond the Big 5: Making a Case for New, Neglected and Offbeat Concertos
Strings Magazine, November/December 2023
Concert programmers and soloists who wish to stray from the beaten concerto path must often summon their powers of persuasion to get new and obscure repertoire before receptive audiences. How do they do it, and what lessons do their examples hold?
Walk of Fame: Los Angeles Musical Tour
BBC Music Magazine, October 2023
From Beverly Hills to Brentwood – passing through Palm Springs – here are the former homes of famous musical inhabitants of California’s City of Angels.
Smartphone Symphony
Symphony.org, August 2023
Digital devices are used by orchestras everywhere, for engagement, education, updates, ticket sales, and more. But taking photos or videos during a concert? That’s a no go. We’re at a flex point in how orchestras and audiences deploy digital devices.
How Actors Become Virtuoso String Players on Film
Strings Magazine, March/April 2023
String teachers and body doubles for Tár, Chevalier, Netflix’s Wednesday, and The Song of Names talk about teaching actors to appear as string virtuosos on screen.
Honoring a Stellar Past, Bracing for a Challenging Future
Chamber Music, Fall 2022
For much of the last four decades, the Emerson Quartet has been routinely held up as the most accomplished quartet on the American landscape. But as the group embarks on a long farewell lap, through October 2023, the possibility of another group attaining the sheer breadth of career credits and accomplishments appears increasingly remote.
How Chamber Music Supergroups Come Together… and Sometimes Come Apart
Strings, November/December 2022
Chamber music supergroups “are most enthralling—or maddening—when a certain freewheeling one-upmanship is on display. Yet some have been plagued by infighting or divergent solo careers.”
Songs of the Earth
Symphony, Summer 2022
Climate change is a major focus for composers writing for orchestra. The topic is taking on increased urgency, with a broad swath of new works demonstrating multiple approaches—and even finding reasons for hope.
Museum Pieces: Do Stringed Instruments Belong Under Glass?
Strings, July/August 2022
Should prized musical instruments be placed under glass in museums or be put in the hands of touring musicians? In this ongoing debate, some museums are finding a middle ground, with special performances in galleries and online video libraries of collection highlights.
Sound Off: Environmental Issues in Classical Music
Overtones (Curtis Institute of Music), Spring 2022
Five members of the Curtis community—from composers to administrators—describe the particulars of their approach to addressing climate change through their work.
Does it Matter If a Conductor Has a String-Playing Background?
Strings, May/June 2022
When a conductor has stringed-instrument experience, is he or she more disposed to nurturing the art of string playing? Several string players-slash-conductors weigh in.
Randall Goosby: The rising star violinist on his hope to bring music to a wider audience
BBC Music Magazine, November 2021
The American violinist talks about his hope to bring classical music to a wider audience, the advantages and trials of his mixed heritage, and about broadening the repertoire with his debut album “Roots.”
Car Audio
BBC Music Magazine, August 2021
Car audio was once the poor stepchild of home stereo systems. While your sofa could masquerade as a sixth-row-centre orchestra seat, your vehicle offered a utilitarian, staticky AM radio which vied with engine rumble, traffic noise and battered road surfaces. But lately, cars have gained theatre-worthy audio features of their own…
Sounds from a Distance
Symphony, Winter 2021
Thrilling sound is one of the defining characteristics of orchestra concerts. But the pandemic has reordered priorities: outdoor performances and safety protocols like masks and distancing require new approaches to acoustics. Plus, audiences are listening on laptops, phones, earbuds, and more. How do audio engineers convey the sound of music?
Eco-Friendly Orchestras: How American orchestras are working to address their climate impact
Symphony, Spring 2020
At a time when climate change is making headlines, the environment and sustainability practices are growing concerns for the classical music field. How are American orchestras working to address their environmental impact, and what kinds of sustainability efforts are currently going above and beyond the call of duty?
A Musical Tour of New York: Where are the Composers’ Homes in the Big Apple?
BBC Music Magazine, June 2020
We name the addresses of classical musicians and composers’ houses in New York. Plan your walking tour now!
Does a Grammy Win Live Up to the Hype for Classical Musicians?
Strings, Jan/Feb 2020
Look at the official biography of any Grammy Award–winning soloist or string quartet, and chances are the award appears in the first paragraph or even in the first sentence.
A Composer with a Life Seemingly Torn from an Adventure Novel
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, October 2020
If ever there was a composer whose story seemed torn from an adventure novel, it was the prodigiously talented Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, regarded by scholars as the first Black composer of importance.
Vivaldi and La Pietà
Explore Classical Music, Spring 2019
There was a time and place when the hot ticket in classical music was an all-female orchestra led by female conductors and featuring female soloists. Its members lived together and studied with the leading international composers of the day.
Victory Verticals
Steinway.com, 2019
During World War II, Steinway pianos were delivered to every theater of war. By the time the war ended, the company had shipped some 5,000 instruments.
Way Out West: The Transcontinental Railroad and Classical Music
BBC Music, May 2019 (PDF)
150 years ago, America’s first transcontinental railroad was completed. How music thrived in the golden age of train travel.
Far-Flung Pianos
Listen Magazine, Summer 2018
The emergence of well-resourced crossover groups has helped to fuel a social-media-age desire for performance videos in remote, sometimes inhospitable locations.
The State of the Independent Music Store
Acoustic Guitar, February 2018
As demonstration videos and 360-degree imagery entice customers to take a chance on guitars they haven’t yet played, many brick-and-mortar retailers are beefing up their websites and focusing on digital platforms such as Reverb and eBay.
When Pops Concerts Tap Pop Culture, Is Something Lost?
New York Times, Aug. 24, 2016
Over the past couple of decades, pops concerts – once a place to hear light classics by Rossini, Bizet or Holst – have undergone a wholesale shift. “There’s kind of a lost repertoire,” said one prominent pops conductor.
Orchestras must fight to stay relevant in 2016. But is hiring a youthful maestro enough?
Slate, Feb. 4, 2016
What can symphony orchestras learn from “Mozart in the Jungle,” the Amazon series featuring a dashing young conductor from Mexico who replaces the aging music director of an orchestra, in a bid to invigorate the stodgy institution?
Calder Quartet: Rocking All Over the World
The Strad, March 2013
The Calder Quartet represents an evolving approach to performing quartet music in the 21st century, performing at offbeat festivals and art galleries, in recitals at Lincoln Center or through collaborations with rock acts like Vampire Weekend.
Whitacre, Inc.: The Practical Tactics of an Ethereal Composer
Listen Magazine, Spring 2013
Eric Whitacre is nearly synonymous with American choral music, his work sung by choirs from Minnesota to Indonesia. His online “Virtual Choirs” have been a runaway smash on YouTube and he may be the only classical composer with a “merch” section on his website.