Featured Stories – Page 10
-
FocusPlayer profile: Cellist Sifiso Mbatha
Cellist Sifiso Mbatha is a student of the ARCO Project, a long distance online teaching collaboration between the UK and South Africa. Read about how his involvement with the ARCO Project enabled his journey from Soweto, South Africa, to receiving a full scholarship at the Royal Northern College of Music
-
Focus
Sentimental Work: Roger Tapping
Listening to Brahms’s String Sextet no.1 op.18 is one of the earliest memories of the Juilliard Quartet violist – and might even be the reason why he took up the viola
-
Focus
‘You’ve got to think outside the box to rise above the parapet’ - Young musicians making a career during the time of Covid
In this extract from the January 2022 issue, Charlotte Gardner speaks to representatives from the City Music Foundation and Young Artists Classical Trust about how young artists can emerge from the pandemic successfully
-
Focus
Sentimental Work: Guy Johnston
The Walton Cello Concerto brings back fond memories for the British cellist, from one of his first concerts to a recent performance by early mentor Steven Isserlis
-
Focus
‘A feeling of waves and lightness’ - Francesca Dego on performing Mozart Violin Concerto no.4
Violinist Francesca Dego guides us through the finale to Mozart’s Violin Concerto no.4, illustrating how working with an orchestra can help maintain ‘the big picture’
-
Focus
Four insights on the Prelude from Bach’s Cello Suite no.1 in G major
Have a read of what two cellists and two violists think about ‘that famous cello song’
-
Focus
The Power of a Performance Psychologist
What can musicians learn from sports and ballet psychology? Violinist Emma Baird speaks to performance psychologist Britt Tajet-Foxell, with further accounts from cellist Matthew Barley and violinist Ksenia Berezina
-
Focus
Stepping up: Postcard from Munich
Held every three years, the Hindemith International Viola Competition moved beyond its local origins to become a truly world-class event in 2021 – and a fitting tribute to its namesake, as Carlos María Solare reports
-
Focus
How should a double bassist prepare to play Bach’s Cello Suites?
Virtuoso bassist and conservatoire professor Leon Bosch explains how he introduces the Bach Cello Suites to his students
-
Focus
What is true violin legato?
In an exclusive video premiere, violinist Daniel Kurganov examines the art of legato and what violinists can learn from singers
-
Focus
The final five bars of the Prelude from Bach’s Cello Suite in D minor
Mats Lidström, the Leo Stern Professor of Cello at London’s Royal Academy of Music, examines the curious and sudden omission of rhythm and flow in the final five bars of Bach’s Prelude in D minor for solo cello, in this extract from the January 2022 issue
-
Focus
Opinion: To speak plainly
Teaching a young student with Down’s syndrome has taught Jacqueline Vanasse the value of simple concepts and hands-on rewards
-
Focus
Happy birthday, Janine Jansen!
7 January is the birthday of the acclaimed Dutch violinist, who featured as The Strad’s October 2021 cover star
-
Blogs
Should Scale Systems Come With A Health Warning?
Violinist Hector Scott examines how players can use scales to exercise curiosity and exploration of musical expressivity, as opposed to excessive, grinding, repetitive practice
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Where should string players look when performing from memory on stage?
Teacher Talk: your string teaching questions answered by our panel of experts. From October 2011
-
Focus
‘Great playing starts at the feet’
Alexander Technique specialist Alun Thomas uses a case study to illustrate how performance success stems from a grounding awareness of one’s feet
-
Focus
5 Ways Isolation Causes Bow Arm Fatigue
Taubman Approach specialists Edna Golandsky and Sophie Till examine how proper alignment in the right arm can help eliminate tension and allow for fluidity when bowing
-
Focus
‘People hadn’t heard live music for so long, and were so happy and grateful for the experience’ - Steven Isserlis on performing Bach
The January 2022 cover star speaks to Charlotte Smith about studying the Bach Cello Suites in the form of his new companion book, as well as performing during the pandemic
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Steven Isserlis: Instinctive performer
Steven Isserlis used the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 to work on a trio of projects: a companion to Bach’s Cello Suites, a new performing edition of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto and a recording of British solo cello music – as the cellist tells Charlotte Smith
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Session Report: Focusing the lens
For the LGT Young Soloists, recording a newly commissioned string symphony by Philip Glass provided ample opportunity for detailed and thoughtful music making – as the group’s artistic director, Alexander Gilman, tells Toby Deller
