Tackling the Beginning of the Elgar Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85
This concerto has everything a player could dream of, with soaring themes and wild mood swings, all written in a way that fits comfortably in the hand
November-December 2020
How To Master the Legato Bow Stroke (Hint: It’s Harder Than You Think)
By Laurie Niles | From the November-December 2020 issue of Strings magazine Flashy bow strokes, such as spiccato, sautillé, staccato, and ricochet, get a lot of attention, as they allow the player to bounce the bow, fire off a barrage…
Making His Mark: These 7 Players Have Found Bliss in Hiroshi Iizuka’s Violas
By Greg Cahill | From the November-December 2020 issue of Strings magazine Caeli Smith met her dream viola in 2013, a few days after Thanksgiving, at the home of Hiroshi Iizuka, its maker. “I picked it up and played a…
George Walker’s Sonata for Cello and Piano Deserves a Place in the Standard Cello Repertoire
By Seth Parker Woods | From the November-December 2020 issue of Strings magazine Hailed by The Guardian as “a cellist of power and grace,” Seth Parker Woods is a soloist, chamber musician, and educator based in Chicago. He serves on…
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Will Streaming Ever Pay for Musicians?
As artists confront new financial challenges due to COVID-19, can they rely on streaming services to pay the bills?
Album Review: Cellist Diana Golden’s ‘Tanbou Kache’ (Hidden Drum) is a Remarkable Collection of Modern Haitian Composers
By Laurence Vittes | From the November-December 2020 issue of Strings magazine The most remarkable piece on Diana Golden’s recital of original music, transcriptions, and arrangements by 20th- and 21st-century Haitian composers, Tanbou Kache (Hidden Drum) (New Focus Recordings), is…
Pilgrim’s Pride: A Forgotten New England Bass Lutherie Tradition Reportedly Was Born of a Jackknife and a Couple of Wood locks
By Erin Shrader | From the November-December 2020 issue of Strings magazine “They’re awfully ugly,” opines violin auctioneer Jason Price at the mention of church basses. He’s sold one or two through Tarisio, his online auction company. “Have you run…
Album Review: Twisted Pine’s ‘Right Now’ Expands Their Eclectic Bluegrass Sound Beyond Strings
By Pat Moran | From the November-December 2020 issue of Strings magazine True to its name, Twisted Pine represents an eclectic branch of the bluegrass family tree. For its sophomore album, Right Now (Signature Sounds), the Boston four-piece stretches beyond…
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Violinist Juliette Kang Plays 2 Instruments Made Centuries Apart
By Laurence Vittes | From the November-December 2020 issue of Strings magazine As first associate concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 2005, Juliette Kang serves regularly as concertmaster when David Kim is off. She helps communicate his leadership across the…
Album Review: Ray Chen’s ‘Solace’ Navigates the Twists, Turns, & Joy of Bach’s 6 Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin
By Greg Cahill | From the November-December 2020 issue of Strings magazine When the COVID-19 quarantine sidelined the globe-trotting violinist Ray Chen’s burgeoning concert career, the New York–based violinist didn’t get mad, he got creative. Chen, 31, purchased a half…
Classical Vinyl Makes a Comeback: Old-school Recaptures Its Cool
By Laurence Vittes | From the November-December 2020 issue of Strings magazine “Vinyl is the coolest thing and will outpace sales of CDs soon,” says cellist Jan Vogler, whose 2017 hit recording New Worlds: Bill Murray, Jan Vogler, and Friends was…
Strings’ 2020 Holiday Gift Guide: Comfort Food For The Soul
By Megan Westberg | From the November-December 2020 issue of Strings magazine Who among us will not be glad to see the back of 2020? Even if the pandemic hasn’t personally affected you and your loved ones, there is only…
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New Recordings of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto: 3 New Takes and 1 Archival Album
By Laurence Vittes | From the November-December 2020 issue of Strings magazine Three new recordings demonstrate the variety of what cellist Anner Bylsma called “that wonderful piece,” Beethoven’s Triple Concerto. Contemporaneous with the “Eroica” Symphony and the Opus 59 string…
The San Francisco Symphony Launches an Intimate New Concert Series
By Barbara Bogatin | From the November-December 2020 issue of Strings magazine I wait excitedly behind the glass door, settling into my familiar pre-concert relaxation routine—feeling my feet grounded on the floor, radiating energy from the base of my spine through…
Untangling the Dodds: Re-evaluating Historical English Bow Making, In All Its Complexity
By Philip J. Kass | From the November-December 2020 issue of Strings magazine My first article for Strings, back in the late 1990s, was about English bows and the marketplace. Twenty years on, have they found a place in the…
Album Review: Calder Quartet, ‘Eclectic Currents’
The Calder Quartet’s (Benjamin Jacobson and Andrew Bulbrook, violins; Jonathan Moerschel, viola; Eric Byers, cello) new digital-only release, Eclectic Currents (Pentatone), showcases their commissioning work between 2011 and 2014, before violinist Tereza Stanislav replaced outgoing founding member Andrew Bulbrook. According…
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Bravo! Vail Music Festival Rolls Out a Creative Solution to COVID Complications
By David Templeton | From the November-December 2020 issue of Strings magazine Early this year, as the pandemic reared its head and performing-arts organizations quickly realized the enormity of the impact it would have on their plans for 2020, pianist…
‘Life Is About Impact’: COVID Taught Violinist Damien Escobar What’s Really Important
By David Templeton | From the November-December 2020 issue of Strings magazine “It’s been a wild and crazy journey, to say the least,” laughs violinist Damien Escobar, chuckling his way through another day in COVID lockdown as he prepares lunch…
Worth It: Restoring a C. 1690 Grancino Violin
By James Koehler | From the November-December 2020 issue of Strings magazine One of my favorite restorations was on a ca. 1690 Giovanni Grancino violin. When I first saw the violin, it had many cracks in the top, which was…
The Chamber-pop Duo Gracie & Rachel Return with a ‘Labor Of Love’
By Greg Cahill | From the November-December 2020 issue of Strings magazine “Hello Weakness, You Make Me Strong is, for us, about finding empowerment in the things that have previously held you back,” violinist and arranger Rachel Ruggles says of…
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Ginger Smock: First Lady of the Jazz Violin
100 years after her birth, violinist Ginger Smock is still due wider recognition for her contributions to the history of jazz violin
How Online Teaching Has Forged Unexpectedly Strong Bonds Between My Music Students and Me
By Caeli Smith | From the November-December 2020 issue of Strings magazine “Wait, so—when I put my pinky down on the A string, it sounds the same as the open E string?” Allia looked at me, her face lighting up. …
The Beethoven Quartet’s Unique Relationship with Shostakovich
By Sasha Margolis | From the November-December 2020 issue of Strings magazine Seldom has a composer been more closely connected with a particular group of performers than Dmitri Shostakovich was with the Beethoven Quartet. Though little known in the West,…