Classical Music
Featured
Practicing away from your instrument might seem like a contradiction. If you think the only practice that counts towards your 5 hours a day are the hours spent beavering away in a stuffy practice room, it’s time to explore the power of mental practice.
Rae Yue Pung is a 21-year-old pianist from Singapore who recently released her debut album “Piano Sonatas” on all digital platforms. TWoA talked to Rae about classical music education in Singapore, her musical journey, and the challenges and rewards of embarking on the transition from highly-gifted child musician to mature artist.
Find out from former Royal Harpist Alis Huws about the special connection between the harp and Wales, about her time as Official Royal Harpist, and about the healing power of music. Right in time for the festive season, be enchanted by Alis’s tales of blind medieval bards and the coronation of a king, of compassion and the gift of music.
There is no question that women can be incredible musicians – brilliant composers, performers, conductors, theorists, and writers. In the last forty or so years, there has been an enormous surge of interest in shedding light on the lost music of female composers. But as we begin to fill in these gaps, what exactly is the best way to go about it?
Do you enjoy watching classical music content on YouTube or Instagram? If the answer is yes, you are probably a fan of Nahre Sol, the Juilliard-trained pianist, composer and content creator. TWoA talked to Nahre about composing variations on an iPhone ringtone and much more.
A very special day is coming: Franz Liszt’s birthday! And what better way to celebrate his 213th than by sight-reading through some of his best tunes.
Glenn Gould is one of the most famous classical musicians of the 20th century, and also one of the most misunderstood. We need to radically reconsider this amazing pianist and realise that his life is not the tragedy of a defective mind but the triumph of a neurodivergent one.
Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007) once said, “I want to live in the future.” His composition Tierkreis (Zodiac) is a vivid example of avant-garde music pushing the boundaries of what we traditionally consider music, much like abstract art, which challenges our perception of visual reality.
A musical composition consisting of 4'33'' minutes of silence? Are you kidding me? Find out more about John Cage's provocative, iconic piece from someone who performed it.
It is a sweltering hot August day in 1876, and a mass of keen Wagner fans are crammed into the small Bavarian town of Bayreuth, spilling over the sides of the streets. Traffic jams of horse and ox carriages block the roads. Find out what happened next!
Legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz once said: “I play the way I feel at that moment. The head – the intellect – is only the controlling factor of music making. It is not a guide. The guide is your feelings.” Hector Wolff makes the case for including classical improvisation in your music making.
Spencer Rubin is an oboe student at The Juilliard School in New York. He has earned numerous grand prize and first place awards in national and international competitions and has performed as a soloist with orchestras. He grew up on Long Island, just outside Manhattan. TWoA talked to Spencer about his favourite things to do in the Big Apple.
Bird calls have been firmly nested in classical piano music even as far back as the Baroque era. Here are four more recent pieces giving the well-deserved spotlight onto our feathered friends.
Spencer Rubin is an oboe student at The Juilliard School. He has earned numerous grand prize and first place awards in national and international competitions and has performed as a soloist with orchestras. Spencer is also a trailblazer on social media, making classical music and the oboe accessible through his channels on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. TWoA talked to Spencer about his musical journey, the oboe and much else.
Bravery requires fear: “I wish I could tell you whether the rest of the recital went well or not, but honestly I wasn’t even listening to myself, I was just thinking: Don’t fuck up. Don’t fuck up, or you’ll have wasted all of their time. Don’t fuck up, or they’ll all wonder why you were asked to play in the first place. Don’t fuck up, or they’ll find out that you’re the worst organist in Cambridge. “
The next time you are unwinding with a video game, see if you can notice how the music changes as you progress – and consider the challenging process the composer went through to make this possible!
This is part II of our interview with performance psychologist Noa Kageyama. Noa is on the faculty of The Juilliard School, teaching performing artists how to use principles of sport psychology to perform to their full abilities under pressure. TWoA talked to Noa about beating performance anxiety, building confidence, effective practice and building mental resilience.
Performance psychologist Noa Kageyama is on the faculty of The Juilliard School, teaching performing artists how to use principles of sport psychology to perform to their full abilities under pressure. TWoA talked to Noa about beating performance anxiety, building confidence, effective practice and building mental resilience.
Composing can be similar to creating a puzzle. Find out from composer Daniel Liu (final-year student at Clare College, University of Cambridge) how to construct a short ‘musical machine.’
How do you modernize past operas for contemporary society? It’s a fine line to walk between preserving traditions and reinvigorating older works with freshness and vibrancy. Does Carrie Cracknell’s new production of Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City find the right balance?
Eunike Tanzil is a composer, pianist and producer. She writes music that tells a story and has gained social media fame with her “Hum me a melody” Instagram series. On 26 April 2024, Eunike signed an exclusive agreement with Deutsche Grammophon. TWoA talked to Eunike about composing and finding your own voice.
Who doesn’t enjoy a good scroll through some classical music content on social media? But the role of social media in the world of classical music goes beyond entertainment. Social media might help create a vision of classical music suited to modern society, and reaching a diverse audience that reflects this society.
In advance of Earth Day this Monday, imagining well-known classical pieces as animals offers new ways of bringing music to life!
Modern conceptions of “classical” music often describe composers like Mozart and Haydn as posh, stuck up, or boring. Humour in the classical era (1750-1810) may not have been as witty or as obvious as modern day comedy, but the blatancy of some of the references that historians have uncovered will shock you!
Think of Spanish culture, and chances are you are thinking of bullfighting, tapas - and flamenco. Flamenco is one of the most popular symbols of Spain, but for centuries, it was confined to the margins of Spanish society. It was the art of the Gitanos, the Roma (Gypsies) of Spain. Until dictator Franco decided to push flamenco centre stage.
How can you possibly read this music score? Arthur Lourié’s “Formes en l’air” (1915) is dedicated to Pablo Picasso, an artist Lourié admired for his artistic boldness. It’s a powerful interpretation of Picasso’s Cubist paintings in sound.
Good music isn’t made on an empty stomach. Discover the stories behind the culinary pastimes of three of the most celebrated composers of the 19th century, Gioachino Rossini, Giacomo Puccini, and Giuseppe Verdi through three recipes they left behind.
Award-winning violinist and music entrepreneur Sumina Studer is a true citizen of the world who has captured the hearts of millions on her various social media platforms. She has now made London her home. TWoA talked to Sumina about her favourite music and art spaces in London, and about social media in the arts and de-pressurising classical music.
Pianist Tiffany Poon is about to launch her solo album Diaries: Schumann. Hong-Kong born, but New York-based, Tiffany is an artist with a mission: to demystify classical music by emphasising the human side of it. Her more than 323K subscribers on YouTube prove she’s on to something. TWoA talked to Tiffany about her first mini-toy keyboard, life and, of course, Schumann.
“People’s attitudes have changed a lot:” How a Lanyard and a Sticker Changed the Perception of Busking on the London Underground.