Busman’s Holiday
Two weeks of music, sun, wine and good company in France? Yes, please! Summer festivals are one of the perks of being a classical...
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- Jul 5
‘I prefer to play music, not to make music’
ARCHIVE On what would have been the 100th birthday of the legendary cellist János Starker, I revisit the interviews he gave me – and some...
- Jun 30
‘As you grow older, you have to get smarter and more efficient’
Edward Dusinberre describes the benefits of ageing, offers advice to students about how to find their own sound and explains why talking...
- Apr 18
Musical Utopia in Cornwall
A week in the magical musical bubble of St Endellion’s Easter Festival offered a hopeful vision of grass-roots classical music in the UK...
- Oct 3, 2023
On the Reich tracks
FROM THE ARCHIVE Steve Reich’s quartet Different Trains has the power to reduce an audience to tears, but how does it feel to perform and...
- Jan 26, 2023
Turn off, tune out
A plea to end the wispy-bulgy school of violin playing Is there a particular sound that makes you reach for the radio off button? For me,...
- Jan 25, 2020
Peter Cropper’s A–Z of chamber music
In this article, first published at ChamberStudio in 2015, the late and much-missed first violinist of the Lindsays pulled no punches...
- Jan 10, 2020
Shmuel Ashkenasi on the art of chamber music
Shmuel Ashkenasi led the legendary Vermeer Quartet for nearly 30 years. In this interview, first published by ChamberStudio, he offers...
- Aug 22, 2018
Mission possible
A summer festival in Silicon Valley initiates young players into the joys and challenges of chamber music and then sends them out into...
- Mar 22, 2018
17 reasons to love amateur musicians
Amateur musicians are a vital part of the classical music world, but don’t always get the recognition or opportunities they deserve or...
- Feb 9, 2018
Can string quartets save the world?
The recent Amsterdam String Quartet Biennale explored various aspects of the string quartet format, including the many life lessons it...
- May 17, 2016
Review of Beethoven for a Later Age
I have a theory that musicians write in exactly the same style that they play their instruments. I’m pleased to see it proven, somewhat...
- Nov 20, 2015
‘You have to treat Bartók as you do Mozart or Haydn’
Bartók’s quartets are often played ‘brutal, fast and loud’, but they should be approached as Classical masterpieces, says Jerusalem...
- Oct 8, 2015
The Freewheelin’ Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma turns 60 on 7 October, 2015, and to celebrate one of the world's best-loved classical music heroes, here is an interview I did...
- Aug 16, 2015
How to be present
Great stage actors have an aura of positive energy and openness that musicians can access, too. Acting coach Patsy Rodenburg tells Ariane...
- Jun 2, 2015
Peter Cropper and the art of story telling
The great violinist, former leader of the Lindsay Quartet, and one of the unique and most charismatic voices in chamber music, died on...
- 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...
- 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 10, 2014
Eugene Drucker on Beethoven
I recently interviewed Eugene Drucker about his Southbank Centre concert with the Emerson Quartet on Sunday, 16 November, which you can...
- 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...
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