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The Problem with 'Concertmistress'
By Laurie Niles: This week in the U.S., a number of news stories focused on a patronizing opinion rant in the Wall Street Journal, which advised soon-to-be First Lady Jill Biden to drop the "Dr." in...
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V.com weekend vote: What is your go-to Christmas music?
By Laurie Niles: As someone who has always celebrated Christmas, I confess that I both love it and hate it Christmas music. But even with the yearly musical overdose, I do have some Christmas music...
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The Dark Solstice of 2020
By Laurie Niles: The winter solstice - the shortest day and longest night of the year - always has fascinated me. For much of our species' time on Earth, humans feared that the days would shorten until...
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Violinists Balancing Assertiveness and Self-Consciousness
By Paul Stein: Theres an ingredient in a violinists playing that is necessary for full expression of musical ideas as well as successful technical movements. Completing a vibrato and not flinching...
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TACOs for Christmas: A Holiday Music Project for Amateur Musicians
By Karen Allendoerfer: Facebook has taken a lot of flack recently, for good reason, but one thing it is good at is bringing back the ghosts of Christmas past: "We hope you enjoy looking back and...
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Dounis Revisited.
By Stephen Brivati: I dont really do much violinny stuff these days. Ive got a garden that produces humongous amounts of vegetables, a beautiful wife and an iPad. What else does one need?...
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Remembering the Immortal Ivry Gitlis (1922-2020)
By Heather Kurzbauer: "Larger than life" is no cliché when applied to violinist Ivry Gitlis, who recently passed away at age 98. A household word to musicians in the classical, jazz and even rock...
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Shouldering the Violin: My Comeback from a Rotator Cuff Injury
By Pauline Lerner: One fine fall day a year and a half ago I fell while walking on the sidewalk. One small misstep can have major, long-lasting effects. After I fell, my left shoulder was in extreme...
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Remembering Suzuki Pioneer William Starr (1923-2020)
By Laurie Niles: Violinist, teacher, pedagogue, conductor and lecturer William Starr -- one of the earliest American string teachers to embrace the Suzuki method --died on Saturday at the age of 97....
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New Rachel Barton Pine Live Show Celebrates 24 Violin Concertos Over 24 Weeks
By Laurie Niles: During the early months of lockdown last spring, with orchestra engagements cancelled for the foreseeable future, violinist Rachel Barton Pine didn't even want to think about violin...
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Chamber Music Camaraderie - How to Maintain It
By Paul Stein: One of the most amazing, magical qualities that classical music enjoys is the ability to hold itself together. The self-sustaining mechanism consists of a steady beat and players trained...
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100 Days of Practice with Hilary Hahn
By Laurie Niles: When violinist Hilary Hahn invited people to join her earlier this week in 100 days of practice, I felt very inspired. Violinist Hilary Hahn - from her Instagram page. "2020 was a very...
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V.com weekend vote: Old Violins or New Violins
By Laurie Niles: If you've been spending a lot of time alone with your violin, you may be more in touch than ever with how it sounds and what you like or don't like. For example, a string player who...
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Remembering Cellist David Darling (1941-2021)
By Richard Brooks: The world has lost a creative musician and innovative teacher with the passing last Friday of cellist David Darling, who was 79. Originally from Elkhart, Indiana, he studied...
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Three Shortcuts to Playing with Greater Expression
By Lynn Kuo: Playing with greater expression, finding deeper interpretations, finding a wider range of emotion, character, and colour in the music these are all abstract skills that we as musicians...
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Michael Stern Named Music Director of National Repertory Orchestra
By Laurie Niles: Conductor Michael Stern has been named Music Director of the National Repertory Orchestra (NRO), a longstanding and prestigious performing and educational summer festival in...
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Preventing Injury: The Violinist as a Small-Muscle Athlete
By Susanna Klein: Do you know a violinist who has suffered an overuse playing injury? The likely answer is yes. The unfortunate reality is that most players learn a lot about the high injury rate for...
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Recalling Violinist Yehudi Menuhin's Family and Dynasty
By Paul Stein: Not all family members can be objective when they write a biography of their famous uncle, but in the case of Lionel Menuhin Rolfe, he had access to so many interesting details about...
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Midori to Receive Kennedy Center Honor
By Laurie Niles: Violinist Midori is one of five artists who will receive Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime artistic achievement this May. Her award is part of the 2020 Kennedy Center Honors,...
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A Visit to the Silver Lake Atelier of Michael Fischer- A Modern Stradivari
By Felix Hernandez: In a quiet neighborhood in Silver Lake, located in Los Angeles, California, lives an alchemist. Unlike his counterparts of an earlier age who attempted to shape and transmute base...
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