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At least we still have music
In the midst of the depression and hopelessness that engulf millions of us in America today, I feel compelled to write about something that inspires hope – a program at Walter Reed Army Medical Center called MusiCorps. But allow me a couple of paragraphs to get there. Today the unthinkable has happened and Americans have…
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Compulsion for music – part II
Throughout her career, Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie has been an intrepid trailblazer. She is the most well-known percussionist in the world and the first person in musical history to create a career as a full-time percussionist (a field traditionally dominated by men). At recent count, over 170 percussion works have been written for her, she was…
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Compulsion for music – part I
I saw the film Florence Foster Jenkins a few days ago and haven’t been able to get it out of my mind. I’ve known about Florence since I was a student. She was the stuff of legend, known as the world’s worst singer – with no sense of pitch, no vibrato, frequent register breaks, glottal stops,…
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Exercise and memory
There is a beautiful 9-mile trail that runs between the town I live in and a nearby town. The trail is constructed from a former rail bed and is extremely popular with walkers, joggers, and bicyclists. It’s an idyllic place for an early morning walk, and I try to walk some portion of it several times a week. We…
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Today is Make Music Day!
Today is Make Music Day! Last year there were celebrations in over 700 cities worldwide. This year – who knows! It all began in France in 1982 as Fête de la Musique. Jack Lang, the French Minister of Culture, had discovered that one out of two French children played a musical instrument, and he thought that having…
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Amsterdam and pianists
As musicians, we often talk about connections: connecting emotionally with certain pieces of music; connecting (or sometimes not) with the audience; connecting with one another when we perform together; and about connections, or networks, within our profession. And on this blog site I have often written about music and brain connections. So I was delighted to be invited to give a presentation…