Consider the clarinet. What an oddball musical instrument! It is not the mighty piano, whose range is from the most sublime romanticism — “Für Elise” — to the most shrewd and brilliant jazz riff, as in Dave Brubeck’s “Blue Rondo…
The organizers of the August 3 Detroit music festival AfroFuture Fest sparked outrage when the organization charged “people of color,” or POC, an early bird rate of $10 for entrance to the music and art festival while charging white people (non-POC) $20….
Concert tickets are expensive. It’s risky to rely on music reviews to choose which performances to attend. Critics are fallible. They don’t always recognize true art. In contrast, the United States Supreme Court has long regarded itself as infallible, because…
Leftists are at war with the freedom of conscience … again. Pop star Taylor Swift released the music video for her new single “You Need To Calm Down” on June 17. The video features many prominent celebrities in the LGBT community,…
Frederik Chopin was a Polish pianist whose passionate compositions continue to stir the soul. His music is associated with the doomed 1830 uprising against Imperial Russian rule, foreshadowing the fights for freedom against Nazis and Communists in the 20th century. Franz…
Let’s think about how we would answer this question. Maybe Lin-Manuel Miranda for his marvelous, creative, catchy musical Hamilton with its 47 songs? Well maybe it’s premature to anoint him as the greatest songwriter of all time, eh? What about…
The Muse has descended on the curriculum developers at Columbia University: they have designed a class entitled Pop and Social Justice Songwriting 101. Which implies that there will be a 102. But it seems unlikely that Columbia students will be…
Richard Wagner’s music is an acquired taste. A more difficult acquisition than most. I’ll admit to being much attracted to Mark Twain’s sarcastic take, which was (relying on my memory here, so I may not have the exact quote): “Wagner’s music is a lot better than it sounds.” Just so.
February 7 starts National Marriage Week. I propose that, in conjunction with this annual event, we identify, and create, music that promotes marriage, including forgiveness and reconciliation within the context of marriage. I concur with the statement of Ellen Wilson…