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V.com weekend vote: Where Would you Prefer the Music Pocket on Your Violin Case?
By Laurie Niles: There was a certain point in my playing career when I actually switched violin cases, just so that I could have a music pocket that was built into my violin case. At the time, it...
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Music and Holiday Memories
By Laurie Niles: As I spend time with family this holiday season, I have been thinking about the way that music connects us in our traditions, to our past, and to each other. For example, "The...
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Bing Crosby's Most Difficult Moment
By Peter Wilson: Last weekend, I had the privilege of performing the violin solo to "White Christmas" (violin part arranged by Jascha Heifetz, orchestral accompaniment by the wonderful Bryan Kidd) with...
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Maintaining your Violin or Viola: a Checklist
By Laurie Niles: Are you up-to-date on your instrument maintenance? It's important to take care of your fiddle, and the holiday season is a good time to take assessment of its condition. I've compiled...
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V.com weekend vote: What is your visual focus, when you are playing from memory?
By Laurie Niles: Where do you direct your eyes, when you are playing from memory? There are certainly useful ways to employ the eyes when playing, when they are not needed for looking at sheet music. I...
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For the Record, Op. 313: Sergey Malov's Solo Bach
By Laurie Niles: Welcome to "For the Record," Violinist.com's weekly roundup of new releases of recordings by violinists, violists, cellists and other classical musicians. We hope it helps you keep...
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The Week in Reviews, Op. 481: Ray Chen, Georg Kallweit, H + H Society
By Laurie Niles: In an effort to promote the coverage of live violin performance, Violinist.com each week presents links to reviews of notable concerts and recitals around the world.Violinist Ray...
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Remembering Jimmy Carter: a Music-Loving President
By Laurie Niles: Bored on a plane Sunday as I came home from a Christmas trip to the Midwest, I scrolled through dozens of movie and documentary options offered me by Delta airlines and finally decided...
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2025 Book List: Psychology Books that Helped Me Practice
By Susanna Klein: Compared to my husband, IÂ’ve always been an occasional, casual reader, not a real reader. That changed a few years ago when I started the research process for a book IÂ’m currently...
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For the Record, Op. 314: Paul Huang's 'Mirrors'
By Laurie Niles: Welcome to "For the Record," Violinist.com's weekly roundup of new releases of recordings by violinists, violists, cellists and other classical musicians. We hope it helps you keep...
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V.com weekend vote: Do you prefer a conductor to use baton?
By Laurie Niles: The baton has become an iconic symbol of the conductor - but is it necessary for a conductor to use one, to get his or her musical ideas across? I thought about this last night, when I...
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Violinist Tessa Lark Named Artistic Director of Moab Music Festival
By Laurie Niles: The Utah-based Moab Music Festival has named violinist Tessa Lark as its next Artistic Director.Violinist Tessa Lark. Photo by Richard Bowditch. The festival began in 1992 as a...
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Review of Pirastro KorfkerRest LUNA for Viola
By Mick Wetzel: EDITOR'S NOTE: Mick Wetzel is a longtime violist in the Los Angeles Philharmonic and also teaches at the Colburn School. When I read the manual for Pirastro's KorfkerRest LUNA for Viola...
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The Week in Reviews, Op. 482: Lisa Batiashvili, Gil Shaham, Gary Levinson
By Laurie Niles: In an effort to promote the coverage of live violin performance, Violinist.com each week presents links to reviews of notable concerts and recitals around the world.Violinist Lisa...
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Review: Violinist Lisa Batiashvili Plays Beethoven with the LA Phil
By Laurie Niles: Can any violinist truly conquer this diabolical instrument's formidable technique, to the point where it simply sings, straight from the heart? Even when watching very fine violinists,...
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Fire
By Laurie Niles: It has been a devastating week in Los Angeles, and as I write this, fires continue to burn. I live in Pasadena, two miles south of the Eaton Canyon Fire, which ripped through the...
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For the Record, Op. 315: Federico Guglielmo; Pekka Kuusisto
By Laurie Niles: Welcome to "For the Record," Violinist.com's weekly roundup of new releases of recordings by violinists, violists, cellists and other classical musicians. We hope it helps you keep...
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The Week in Reviews, Op. 483: Joshua Bell; Augustin Hadelich; Ray Chen
By Laurie Niles: In an effort to promote the coverage of live violin performance, Violinist.com each week presents links to reviews of notable concerts and recitals around the world.Violinist Joshua...
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Composer Arnold Schoenberg's Archive Destroyed in Los Angeles Wildfires
By Laurie Niles: Some 100,000 scores by Arnold Schoenberg were lost in the Palisades fire last week in Los Angeles.Composer Arnold Schoenberg. The fire destroyed the building housing Belmont Music...
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Help Orchestral Musicians and Teachers Affected by Los Angeles Fires
By Laurie Niles: People are shy about asking for help, but they certainly need it right now. I have assembled this list of fundraisers for orchestral musicians, string players and teachers who lost...
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