Musical Assumptions

As part of my healing process I made an arrangement for string quartet of the viola d'amore trio I wrote about the other day. Amid the physical chaos of recovering from a stem cell transplant (building bone marrow and an immune system takes a great deal of energy) and the chaos happening in the outside world (the world outside of our house, our family, and our friends), I am con...

My body's recovery seems to be on track, and though I have to live much of my social life masked, I am able to engage in local musical activities, like Summer Strings, playing Renaissance music on the viola d'amore with our local consort, and playing string quartets. I have been able to do some productive practicing, and feel like I have more bow control than I have ever had bef...

I have loved Ilya Kaler's playing ever since his Schumann Violin Sonatas and Paganini Caprices on some early Naxos recordings arrived at the radio station where I worked at the end of the twentieth century. What a thrill it is to hear his particular old-world sound embrace Florence...