When the fourteen-year-old Joe Satriani learned, during high school football practice in 1970, of the passing of his musical hero Jimi Hendrix, he walked over to the coach and quit to become a guitarist. Over the next sixteen years, he taught guitar lessons,...
“When I need to feel like I’m in a beautiful place, that is the music I go to.” This is how one listener described the experience of listening to music by Italian composer and pianist Ludovico Einaudi. His music is elegant and simple, yet innovative. Although he...
In today’s busy world, having fun life-enhancing hobbies can drastically improve one’s quality of life. Dance is one such hobby for me. It has always fascinated me because it uses human movement as a means of artistic expression. Dance is everywhere: formal ballet...
Great musicians can inspire students of music to improve their own playing and artistry. I experienced this myself in 2017 when, as a novice piano student, I went to see the world-renowned pianist Lang Lang on tour. I was awestruck by his technical skill, fluidity,...
When was the last time you leaped to your feet to applaud artists performing live in a theater? It seems like forever ago for me. That void was recently filled to the brim in downtown Orlando, Florida, when I attended two performances by local ballet companies of...
Performers who love what they do can invoke a pure, soul-fueling joy in their audiences. Two performers who exemplify this are Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The pair starred together in ten musical films between 1933 and 1949. Astaire and Rogers were both...
“A gracefully effortless floating, flowing and flying are the essentials of the ballet’s image of man. It projects a fragile kind of strength and a certain inflexible precision.” ― Ayn Rand, The Romantic Manifesto Swan Lake has captivated audiences for more than a...
There are few things as wonderful to watch as musicians playing live and clearly loving every moment of it. A great musical performance, especially in an energetic genre like heavy metal, requires far more than just going on stage and playing a song. It’s a...
Many of us listen to music as we work, study, exercise, or read, and this can enhance our enjoyment of these activities. However, when I want to truly enjoy a song, especially an instrumental piece, I sit back and listen to it with my eyes closed. Focusing on the...