I started studying with Mr. Totenberg when I was 14. My previous teacher, the esteemed Zinaida Gilels, had just passed away and insisted prior to her death that I continue my studies “only with Roman Totenberg.” When I arrived for my first lesson and rang the bell, Mr. Totenberg answered the door himself. He was impeccably dressed, wearing a suit and pocket square, had a soft understated smile, and a confident but not overbearing presence. He spoke to me in Russian though I learned he also knew Polish, English, German, French, and Italian. His studio was covered with autographed photos from the Roosevelts, famous musicians, and other prominent people. His noisy little bird observed our first meeting from a cage on the corner ...

In Friendship

One of the most fertile conjunctions in the history of music has been the combination of the smooth sonority of the clarinet and the resonant sound of stringed instruments — that fusion of quite different textures and sounds has produced great music in completely different eras. And that combination of sonorities has at particular moments been energized by the close friendship between a superb clarinet player and a particular composer — from Mozart and clarinetist Anton Stadler, and Carl Maria von Weber and clarinetist Heinrich Baermann, to Brahms and clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld, and Carl Nielsen and clarinetist Aage Oxenvad. In Friendship offers two works for clarinet and string quartet that grew out of ...

Recently featured on WNYC’s “New Sounds”, Michael Gandolfi’s Winter Light shows why this new composer is quickly becoming a star in more than just contemporary concert music. It is also another piece on the album inspired by poetry. The work consists of two movements, “Falling Snow” and “Opal,” which both come from American poet Amy Lowell’s collection Pictures of the Floating World.

The poetry in “Falling Snow” depicts an unadorned human experience, and through it, an elegiac acknowledgment of life’s transitory nature. “Opal”features an emotional and erotic relationship between to women, and the woman to whom “Opal” is addressed was actress ...

Maybe it is because I’m more or less at the mid-point of a Brahms cycle with the Surrey Mozart players, but right now, I feel like I’m orbiting planet Brahms. 2012 is looking like a Brahms year for Ken, and I like that a lot.

I’ve been accumulating some morsels of Brahmsian prejudice that I’ve wanted to share here.

1-    I really don’t like the Schoenberg arrangement of the opus 25 no. 1 Piano Quartet. I like Schoenberg. I like the G minor Piano Quartet. I like Schoenberg’s arrangements of the Emperor Waltz and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, but I’ve never warmed to what Schoenberg reputedly called Brahms’s Symphony no. 5. I heard it again on the radio last week, ...

Playing (Less) Hurt: An Injury Prevention Workshop for Musicians

Playing music takes a toll on the body.  How does a musician, working grueling schedules over a long career, avoid injury?

Musicians are invited to attend Chamber Music America’s next First Tuesdays seminar on April 3rd, led by cellist Janet Horvath, author of Playing (Less) Hurt—An Injury Prevention Guide for Musicians.

In addition to discussing susceptibility, danger signals and risky postures, Horvath will present specific injury-prevention strategies, ergonomic solutions, instrument modifications, orthotics, chairs, and other resources for all musicians –string, wind, and brass players, pianists and percussionists. She will also delve ...

NY-based composer-performer Lesley Flanigan is quite a visionary lady. In a seemingly flat, digitized world, she has managed to create a style of brilliantly dark electronic sound by inventing a series of customized speaker synths and adding loops and vocalization.
Her CD Amplifications is a great audio collection of some of Lesley’s work, and you can find even more of her live performances on YouTube and Vimeo (Some of those are presented here as well), and she has more music on her website, but I strongly encourage you to see her in person.

Lesley had some time to talk to me via Skype.

CM: How did this all start out?

LF: I really started doing this music–It’s so perfect because it was one of the things I ...

Wabass Workshop at Curtis

The Wabass Workshop features four days of intensive bass instruction, led by founder Ranaan Meyer and Assistant Principal Bass of the Philadelphia Orchestra Joseph Conyers. The Wabass Workshop offers a rare, affordable opportunity for bass players to receive personalized, hands-on instruction from some of the best double-bassists in the country.

Music is a universal language, and the faculty at Wabass Workshop will guide you to tell its story in different ways. Gain insight into classical repertoire, jazz techniques, and general performance skills. In a concentrated environment, learn how to improve your personal practice and become your own teacher. Participate in group master classes where constructive ...