THE MAGAZINE
Birthday Celebration: A PlayLiszt for Beginners
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.
Pianist Glenn Gould’s Radical Neurodivergent Legacy
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.
What is Your Star Sign? “Tierkreis” by Karlheinz Stockhausen
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.
Why John Cage’s Provocative ‘Silent Piece’ is Still Powerful Today
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.
Bayreuth, 13th August 1876
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!
The Secret to Playing like Horowitz: A Look Into Classical Improvisation
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’s Guide to New York
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.
Did Composers Wing It? Four Piano Pieces that Imitate Birdsong
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, Oboe Student, The Juilliard School: On Oboe Reeds, Juilliard and Favourite Oboe Concertos
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.
Considering Practice, Remembering Fun
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. “
Press A to Play: The Power of Video Game Music
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!
Noa Kageyama, Performance Psychologist (The Juilliard School): Making Performers Bulletproof, Part II
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.
Noa Kageyama, Performance Psychologist (The Juilliard School): Making Performers Bulletproof, Part I
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.
Guest Composer: Daniel Liu, Clare College, University of Cambridge
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.’
Review: Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera: Out With the Old and In With the New?
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, Composer, Pianist and Producer: On “Star Wars,” Composing and Finding Your Voice
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.
Will Social Media Shape the Future of Classical Music?
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.
Inside Handel’s Beehive: If Classical Pieces were Animals
In advance of Earth Day this Monday, imagining well-known classical pieces as animals offers new ways of bringing music to life!
From Mozart's "Lick My Ass" Canon to Scarlatti's Composing Cat: Humour in 17th Century Classical Music
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!
¡Viva Flamenco! From Spain’s Margins to its Center Stage
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.