All Focus articles – Page 21
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My experience: Samuel Vargas at the Schwob School of Music
Venezualan violinist Samuel Vargas outlines his experience at the Columbus State University Schwob School of Music in Georgia, US
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My experience: Willard Carter at the Gstaad Menuhin Festival and Academy
British cellist Willard Carter recounts his time at the Gstaad Menuhin Festival in Switzerland
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The Strad Podcast Episode #30: Sean Lee on performing Paganini Caprices
’It’s sort of like going to the gym: you show up, you do your workout, you recover and you come back a bit stronger’
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My experience: Anna Agafia at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel
Danish violinist Anna Agafia describes her experience as an artist in residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo, Belgium
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Wilma Smith: Life Lessons
The Antipodean violinist on how chamber music and seizing opportunities made for a varied career in the New Zealand String Quartet and as concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
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Masterclass: Maxim Vengerov on Mozart Sinfonia Concertante K364
This masterwork is often treated as a party piece, but there is much more to it than that. Understanding harmony, history and opera is vital in performing it, says Maxim Vengerov, in this article from February 2007
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‘Take it, make it work and don’t hurt yourself’ - tips for small framed violists
Viola professor at Juilliard and Curtis Institute of Music Hsin-Yun Huang offers practical tips for petite musicians and teachers to avoid unnecessary pain and over-exertion
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‘A Baroque composer living in the 21st century’ - Steven Isserlis on recording British Solo Cello Music
In this extract from the January 2022 issue, cellist Steven Isserlis speaks about recording works by British composers, who are all linked by a shared respect for the past
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ecoRosin by Leatherwood Bespoke Rosin
ecoRosin strives to leave a zero footprint on our planet whilst offering string players premium rosin recipes for colourful music making
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‘Minimalistic music is composed in a minimalist way, but I want to get the maximum out of this’
Toby Deller speaks to the LGT Young Soloists artistic director Alexander Gilman about recording Philip Glass’s brand new Symphony no.14 ’Liechtenstein’, in this extract from the January 2022 issue
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Player 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
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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
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The Strad Podcast Episode #29: Julia Fischer on Mozart Violin Concertos
‘I played the first movement of the G major concerto in the Philharmonie in Munich when I was eight’
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‘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
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Masterclass: Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider on Mozart Violin Concerto no.5
The simplicity and purity of the master’s violin concertos belie their great technical and musical demands. Violinist Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider delves beneath the surface, in this article from August 2006
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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
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‘A teacher should be most aware of a student’s health, both mental and physical’ - bassist Mary Condliffe
The Cardiff-based double bass pedagogue explains why her students’ health is her biggest concern, in this interview from April 2012
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‘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’
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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’
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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