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While compiling the program notes for QSCM’s Between Friends III concert, June 11 I came across this statement by Leonidas Kavakos upon performing the premier of Lera Auerbach’s Violin Concerto No. 4. “I have said…

Saturday June 11, QSCM’s “Between Friends III” event, live at St Paul’s United Church, Stirling ON (7 pm) celebrates connection and deep feeling. Performed by cellist Amahl Arulanandam and pianist Petya Stavreva, the program is…

For the uninitiated, “fingering” refers to the numbers written above or below notes corresponding to the fingers of the hand with thumbs being “1”. Fingering is indispensable for keyboard and string players. It is meant…

Dmitri Kabalevsky (1904-1987) was a contemporary of the notorious “Russian Five”, composers Shostakovitch, Prokofiev, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, and Cui. However unlike them, he was loved by the Soviet government and he enjoyed a tenured position at…

Alexander Glazunov was born in Russia in 1865. He grew up steeped in the late romantic tradition of Russian music. The music of Tchaikovski was a great influence on his compositional style. As a composer,…

This coming Saturday I will be welcoming visitors to one of my favourite places: the historic O’Hara’s Mill & Homestead just north of Madoc, Ontario. As a volunteer with both O’Hara’s and QSCM, it has…

The four movements of Haydn’s “Lark Quartet” are aptly described bycomposer and musicologist, Paul Epstein, in these words: “a story, a song, a dance and a party”. To find out why , check out Kai…

The piano is a prominent instrument in the genre of chamber music, either as a collaborative instrument accompanying a soloist or as a member of an ensemble. A page turner is normally required to assist…