If you’d prefer to listen to a much-loved classic rather than try and get your mind around a new work, think again. It may well be worth the effort of listening to something new. Scientists at Rotman Research Institute, in Toronto, found that the brain’s reward centre showed increased activity when participants heard a new piece of music.
Read about the study and is implications at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22096764
The dynamics of a small music ensemble have always been intriguing – remember Vikram Seth’s 1999 novel An Equal Music? More recently movies like Quartet and A Late Quartet have revisited the theme. Zoe Knighton, cellist with the Flinders Quartet writes about her experiences in Classic Melbourne. The Flinders Quartet performs at the Utzon…
Sergei Prokofiev’s immortal tale of Peter and the Wolf has been given a spectacular revamp and takes shape in the form of a multi-media adventure entitled Peter and the Wolf in Hollywood. Available from November 13, Peter and the Wolf in Hollywood has been created by New York-based production company Giants Are Small and Deutsche Grammophon. It promises to be a…
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is refreshingly honest about the trend to fast-track singers to classical singing without the vital technical foundations. Click here to read The Guardian.
If you’re visiting the United Kingdom this northern summer and you’re an aficionado of the violin, a day trip out of London to Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum could just be your idea of heaven as it puts on display 21 instruments created by the master craftsman Antonio Stradivari (c.1644–1737). Stradivari didn’t only make violins – he made…
Daniel Rojas As the premiere of his Marimba Concerto draws near, composer Daniel Rojas reflects on the excitement of the occasion. He writes: “A world premiere of any orchestral work is a rare occasion. I often compare it to the launch of a new novel or the opening night of a new movie or…
The Australian Chamber Orchestra is the beneficiary of the largesse of Peter Weiss AO, one of Australia’s most dedicated arts philanthropists and a successful businessman. He has donated to the ensemble an exceptionally fine and extremely rare cello. Made by Giuseppe Guarneri filius Andreæ in 1729, the cello is valued at A$1,800,000. This is the…