All Focus articles – Page 50
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FocusAriadne Daskalakis’s top 5 practice tips
To tie in with the release of her Schubert disc, the violinist talks about the importance of maintaining consistency and a sense of effortless joy in your practice
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Focus5 tips for viola teachers by Juilliard School professor Michael Tree
How can viola teachers help their students develop into good players? The former Guarneri Quartet violist outlines the most important areas to focus on
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Focus8 ways to vary your vibrato
Tips from The Strad’s archive for varying vibrato speed, width, pressure and direction to produce an infinite range of colour contrasts
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Focus12 ways to encourage children to practise
Finding the right level of involvement in a child’s instrumental practice can be a tricky balancing act. Cellist and pedagogue Oliver Gledhill offers some strategic guidance
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FocusWhy do so many orchestras lag behind the beat?
Even under the best conductors and in the finest orchestras, players tend to drag behind the baton. Evan Johnson looks at the reasons for this universal phenomenon
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FocusBaltimore Musicians postpone season-opening concerts as they continue strike
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s season-opening concerts are postponed amid continued strike action
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Focus'Every bow movement should be calculated' - Aaron Rosand
The American maestro discusses the need for relaxation and finesse for good tone production in a 2007 article for The Strad
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Focus5 views on teaching and performance from William Pleeth
The late British cellist and teacher of Jacqueline du Pré spoke to The Strad in June 1996 at the age of 80
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FocusWhy record the music of Goya’s Madrid?
On the heels of ‘Heritage’, the Cuarteto Quiroga’s latest CD release, Cibrán Sierra, violinist with the ensemble, explains why they decided to delve into the music of 18th century Madrid
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FocusPlayers of tomorrow: Anna Agafia Egholm
Following her win at the Tibor Varga Competition, the 23-year-old Danish violinist talks about her background, ice-skating, David Attenborough and practising with purpose
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FocusThomas Demenga on studying with Grimmer, Janigro, Rose and Rostropovich
The Swiss cellist compares himself to a quattro stagioni pizza of the combined influence of his teachers. From September 2008
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FocusPlayers of tomorrow: Johan Dalene
The 18-year-old BBC New Generation Artist and winner of the 2019 Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition talks about his musical background, his idols and more
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FocusConductor Daniel Harding to take sabbatical to fly planes
The British conductor is to take a break from conducting and become a commercial pilot for Air France
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FocusLisa Jacobs’s top 5 practice tips
To tie in with the release of her Nielsen CD, the Dutch violinist shares her insight into getting the most out of your practice
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FocusStringtelligence by Thomastik-Infeld: vibrating string length and string tension
These factors can seem a bit too technical or just matter of preference, but it is definitely worth understanding what to look and listen out for
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FocusMichael Barenboim’s top 5 practice tips
The concertmaster of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra shares his insights into the art of practising the violin
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FocusAlan Beavitt: how I became a violin-maker on a remote Scottish peninsula
The luthier shares his experience of living and working in Scorraig, a remote peninsula in the north-west Scottish highlands, recently featured in the news
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FocusIn focus: the 1728 'Milanollo' Stradivari
Roger Hargrave examines the Stradivari ‘Milanollo’ violin of 1728, one of the few of the master’s instruments to keep its original sharpness
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FocusSchubert's Arpeggione Sonata played on arpeggione
Nicolas Deletaille, arpeggione, and Alain Roudier, fortepiano, play Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata. The arpeggione was invented in 1823 by instrument maker Johann Georg Stauffer in Vienna. It is fretted, has six strings and is tuned like a guitar, but played with a bow like a cello or gamba. Although it caught ...
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FocusStringtelligence by Thomastik-Infeld: whistling E-strings
In the third part of his blog series for The Strad celebrating Thomastik-Infeld’s 100th anniversary, Franz Klanner, the Austrian string manufacturer’s director of engineering and technology, concentrates on whistling and other common issues of violin E-strings

























