Tips on How Musicians Can Overcome Stage Fright
No matter if you've played two gigs or 2,000, stage fright can happen to any musician at any time. Here are some ways string players can overcome stage fright.
January 2017
The Roving Life of Violin Maker Vincenzo Panormo Reflected the Turbulence of His Times
By Philip J. Kass In 1772, a young violin maker arrived in London with his family to practice his craft. He was 38 years old and had worked in many cities; his travels had now brought him more than 1,700…
Perfect Fifths: A Few Thoughts on Tuning Your Viola (Violinists & Cellists Invited)
Many string players still tune all their strings in perfect fifths regardless if using perfect fifths for tuning is not necessarily the best choice!
Violinist Johnny Gandelsman Records Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for the First Time & Turns to Unusual Instruments for Inspiration
By Brian Wise Not many violinists can claim to have prepared for a performance of J.S. Bach’s complete Sonatas and Partitas by playing Irish jigs and reels. Nor would many admit to watching the fingerings of a banjo player during…
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Identifying Some General Characteristics of Each of the Panormo Violin Makers’ Workmanship
By Philip J. Kass All Images Courtesy of Tarisio Writing about workmanship is fraught with difficulties, not least because of the chances that language does not always adequately depict the visual, and as a result it is possible to draw…
Review: Chicago Symphony Brings Light to a Bleak Bay Area
By Cristina Schreil The San Francisco Bay Area, in desperate need of respite from the wind, received a gentle gust of relief from the Windy City. It was a tense Friday the 13th. Smoke from nearby wine-country wildfires hung heavily…
Vincenzo Panormo’s Effect on the Trade, the Craft & Place in the Modern Market
By Philip J. Kass The most lasting influence of Vincenzo Panormo on the violin world was in his introduction of the Stradivari model into French and English violin making. In this matter he was hardly unique, for there were other…
Violinist Augustin Hadelich Examines Paganini’s Music & Mystique
By Cristina Schreil As if the life of a Grammy Award–winning, world-touring violinist didn’t sound appealing enough, Augustin Hadelich offers a pre-concert ritual I can get behind. Hadelich, born to German parents in Tuscany, is now a New Yorker and…
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Takács Quartet Violist Geraldine Walther Reflects on Dvořák’s Expression of the Viola
By Cristina Schreil Dvořák: String Quartet, Op. 105, and String Quintet, Op. 97 Takács Quartet; Lawrence Power, viola (Hyperion) Many know that when Dvořák journeyed to the new world, he wrote a symphony. A new recording by the Takács Quartet…
Violist Melia Watras on the Joys of Recording with Friends
By Melia Watras I owe a lot to Atar Arad. My beloved viola teacher when I was a student at Indiana University, Atar has had a profound influence on me, as a musician and as a person. He always pushed…