While I’ve been researching my article on violinists who’ve crossed musical borderlines, for Sinfini Music, I found myself debating with...

Whether you're a maker or a player, or just worried about getting old, you should see the Matisse cut-outs exhibition The Matisse...

There are many different tribes of violin makers, in my experience. Conservatives, Futurists, Archivists, Geometrists, Philosophers,...

Musical timing and closure, hearing and thinking for ourselves – just some of the things that teaching often fails to help us with,...

Last night's Proms concert with the Budapest Festival Orchestra was ravishing, but raised an uncomfortable question I have a friend who...

Two weeks at a violin practice retreat were life-changing for me, but left me wondering why there aren't enough places for amateur...

I had a lovely morning yesterday talking to cellist Natalie Clein for two forthcoming articles – about her new Saint-Saëns disc, for...

While we're on the subject of Leopold Auer, it's not possible to mention his roll-call of students without referencing this wonderful...

Responses to my post about Menuhin's vibrato drew a mixture of responses. I’d remarked on it being ‘perfectly shaped’ and ‘fluid’ and...

I came across this footage of Menuhin playing Bach's 'Air on the G String'. Just look at his left hand – is that not the most perfectly...

I came across this lovely film while on my research into classical artists who have explored other genres. It's beautiful to watch the...

I'm currently researching an article for Sinfini Music about violin stars who branch out into other styles, and came across this...

My latest interview for Cozio, with violinist James Ehnes, has just gone live, so please go and visit. He had so much to say about his...

The British Pathé YouTube archive is proving to be a charming source of films about the violin, in all its forms. Here is a soundless...

I just came across this delightful footage on the British Pathé YouTube channel. It shows a class of 'budding Kreislers' from 1940...

Amid the commemorations of the start of the First World War, you might like a bit of respectful levity, so here is Charlie Chaplin's...

The great screen comedian was an accomplished amateur violinist who composed many of the scores to his films At the height of his...

You probably didn’t know that my mother was also a journalist – the apple never falls far from the tree, as they say. She was the...

One of my aims with this website is to be a non-denominational space where all forms of string music are equally respected and...

Julian Lloyd-Webber has come out in The Times against competitions, and accused them of being corrupt. That’s quite a broad brush with...