By Lisa Grodin When I was a young violinist, I assumed that “artistic license” was a permit for which one could apply—just like a driver’s license or an ID card. I wanted to create magic from sound. I wanted one…
By Thomas May The notorious old quip that Antonio Vivaldi wrote the same concerto 500 times was never anything more than a cheap witticism. A similarly cynical attitude might be applied to the fact that the same work has been…
Here's a breakdown of many electric violins on the market today, as well as advice from pro players and electric violin makers to help you pick the right instrument.
By Brian Wise Questions about fairness and transparency in music competitions have been in the air since the days when a young Van Cliburn was prowling concert stages, fresh off his Tchaikovsky Competition win. In 1961, New York Times music…
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By Greg Cahill “In making records, everything informs everything else,” says Ryan Hewitt, when asked about what considerations go into a successful post-production phase. Hewitt is an A-list producer and mixing engineer who has worked on rock, pop, and country…
By Stephanie Powell BAM Cases has released Gigs by BAM, an app for smartphones that allows users to track the location of their musical instruments at all times, worldwide, using cell-tower triangulation. The app includes various other capabilities as well,…
By Inge Kjemtrup It sounds like a fantasy dreamed up by a record-label executive after a three-martini lunch: a concerto by world-famous jazz trumpeter and bandleader Wynton Marsalis, written especially for the Scottish-born violinist Nicola Benedetti. But it isn’t a…
By Emily Wright There is a scene in the first Harry Potter movie where the young wizard is tasked with purchasing his first wand. The setting is not unlike many old-fashioned violin shops: the smell of wood; stacks of dusty…
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After 30 years together as a group—with a total of 19 albums, countless appearances on others as guest artists, thousands of live performances, and hundreds of thousands of touring miles under their collective belt—the innovative Swedish folk band known as…
By Toni Sicola Owner of Los Angeles Bassworks, Lisa Gass, has thrived in the musical world her entire life. Enjoying the benefits of a musical father and an early band teacher who cultivated her talents and interests, Gass tapped into…
What’s your favorite part of the process of making an instrument—what day to you most look forward to? One of the most exciting days in the process of making an instrument is Day 1. That is the day (or sometimes…
By Miranda Wilson A cello concerto specifically designed by the composer for a virtuoso operating at the very limits of what is physically (and sometimes mentally) possible requires a performer with a strong head for heights. But in Yo-Yo Ma’s…
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George Enescu’s masterful work, Impressions d’Enfance, had been on my “bucket list” for some time. Its rare appearance in concert programs is understandable, given its technical difficulty and challenges for ensemble. A work like this would require a musical partner…