top of page


Mar 8, 2016
Interview with violinist Regina Carter
Regina Carter started with Dont and Galamian but she only truly found her voice when she discovered jazz. She tells Ariane Todes about...


Jun 3, 2015
Never too old to learn
How much can an adult amateur expect to develop as a musician in a short space of time? Quite a lot, it turns out, given the right...


May 8, 2015
Why you should stop practising
Observing masterclasses can be a brilliant way to learn and find inspiration, and yet students rarely turn up to watch. They may be too...


Apr 27, 2015
Interview with Shmuel Ashkenasi
The former Vermeer Quartet leader and Curtis Institute professor discusses the negative sides of Ilona Fehér's 'tough love' school of...


Jan 14, 2015
9 ways to succeed in music
Today's classical music business may be competitive and tough, but there are also more opportunities than ever. Success lies in knowing...


Jan 13, 2015
The violinist’s guide to learning mandolin
For violinists, playing the mandolin offers instant rewards and benefits, but some challenges, too. I asked for advice from the best in...


Dec 4, 2014
The future of music competitions
Competitions are a vital part of the classical music world, whether you like it or not. They offer many benefits to players and to the...


Nov 11, 2014
The unbearable lightness of being Gary Hoffman
Gary Hoffman is one of the music world’s best-kept secrets, a fine and uncompromising cellist whose rare appearances mesmerise. For him,...


Oct 5, 2014
The return of Kyung Wha Chung
The legendary violinist Kyung Wha Chung makes her much-awaited London comeback this December, after more than a decade away. On a recent...


Aug 29, 2014
Everything you need to know about violin playing (but were never taught)
Musical timing and closure, hearing and thinking for ourselves – just some of the things that teaching often fails to help us with,...


Aug 5, 2014
Charlie Chaplin and his violin obsession
The great screen comedian was an accomplished amateur violinist who composed many of the scores to his films At the height of his...

Jul 5, 2014
Sheila Nelson and her work in Tower Hamlets
In the 1980s, string pedagogue Sheila Nelson took her seminal teaching techniques to underprivileged schools in the London borough of...


Jun 5, 2014
Fritz Kreisler: Four Weeks in the Trenches
The great violinist served in the Austrian Army during the First World War. Here he gives a moving and deeply humane account of his time...
bottom of page