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‘It’s crazy to think that you might graduate not having the skill to do the job you’re going to be hired to do’ – an interview with Rachel Barton Pine
Rachel Barton Pine has one of the most eclectic, unconventional and interesting careers of all violinists – whether playing thrash-metal...
Oct 9, 2024


‘If you play without a safety net, it makes you freer’ – an interview with Vilde Frang
My interview with Vilde Frang for the cover of the November issue of BBC Music Magazine has just come out, as she releases her...
Oct 3, 2024


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...
Aug 28, 2024


The art of leading
INTERVIEW Making mistakes, giving everything and leaving ego at the door: concertmaster Andrej Power offers his insights into the skills...
Jul 17, 2024


‘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...
Jun 30, 2024


The normalisation of classical music
OPINION: Far from its reputation as exclusive, classical music is often itself excluded from mainstream culture. As more young people...
May 4, 2024


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...
Apr 18, 2024


TwoSet at the Troxy
Two Australian orchestral violinists have found millions of fans for classical music with their hilarious and geeky videos. I went to the...
Jun 22, 2023


A very British tradition
Newark School of Violin Making has an alumni list that reads like a Who’s Who of the violin world. As it celebrates its 50th anniversary,...
May 1, 2023


I ❤️ Beethoven
For the first stop of my Interrail trip, I make a beeline for Beethoven’s home city of Bonn and find him around every corner I love...
Apr 6, 2023


Human imperfection will save us
Artificial intelligence impersonations of human writing are very good – and that’s why this writer isn’t afraid of them There’s lots of...
Mar 25, 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 26, 2023


Death of a salesman
The death of violin expert Norman Rosenberg marks the end of an era and raises questions for the violin world There are some people who...
Mar 3, 2022


Thank you, Sheila Nelson
Very sad news has come through that the great violin pedagogue Sheila Nelson died on 16 November, at the age of 84. By rights, Sheila...
Nov 27, 2020


Chaplin’s The Immigrant
Charlie Chaplin‘s 1917 film about the journey to Ellis Island is as funny and moving today as it must have been to the audiences who saw...
Sep 24, 2020


Interview with György Pauk
In this article, originally commissioned by the Royal Academy of Music, violinist and pedagogue György Pauk explains some of the most...
Aug 13, 2020


Interview with Giovanni Guzzo
In this article, originally commissioned by the Royal Academy of Music, violinist and professor Giovanni Guzzo describes his teaching...
Aug 13, 2020


Interview with Dominic Seldis
In this article, originally commissioned by the Royal Academy of Music, the double bass professor and Principal Bass of the Royal...
Aug 13, 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...
Jan 10, 2020


Life in Teaching: Diana Cummings
Diana Cummings comes from a musical dynasty, and her career spans solo, chamber and orchestral playing. Since 1982 has been a professor...
Apr 8, 2019
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