All Focus articles – Page 80
-
Focus12 inspiring quotes about string playing
2013: twelve great issues of The Strad; twelve great cover stars. Here are some of the pieces of wisdom and inspiration they shared with us: 1 ‘It's a very artificial situation to be on stage. I grew up with music at weddings and dance houses – a much ...
-
Focus10 things you need to know about the string world
Your rough guide to the string music business
-
FocusGerman cellist Maria Kliegel on her mission to meet Nelson Mandela
She tells Naomi Sadler why she spent two years on a quest to present the late former South African president with a musical homage
-
FocusA luthier's tribute to Nelson Mandela
Inspired by South Africa's Nobel Peace Prize winners, luthier Brian Lisus made a quartet of instruments that could spread a message of reconciliation and help some of the world's poorest children to make music. Peter Somerford traces its evolution
-
Focus
Do you encourage viola students to bring chamber music parts to lessons?
Teacher Talk: your string teaching questions answered by our panel of experts
-
FocusAdrian Anantawan on teaching kids with limb differences
Canadian violinist Adrian Anantawan was born without a right hand. He began studying the violin at the age of nine and attended the Curtis Institute of Music, where his teachers were Ida Kavafian and Yumi Ninomiya Scott. He has also studied with Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman and ...
-
FocusAsk the Experts – the new advice column from The Strad
Do you have a burning question about any aspect of the string world but have never known whom to ask?
-
Focus
Kim Kashkashian: ‘The emotional landscape of Hindemith's music is a joy to enter'
Paul Hindemith did more than any other composer of his era to champion the viola as a solo instrument. Fifty years after his death, the American violist Kim Kashkashian reflects on the rewards and challenges of his music
-
FocusEssential tips for teaching limb-different children to play stringed instruments
Youngsters born with limb differences can be as determined as anyone to learn an instrument – and here's how to help them achieve their goals
-
FocusHow early can the Bach Cello Suites be introduced to cello students?
Teacher Talk: your string teaching questions answered by our panel of experts
-
FocusNever judge a book by its cover
This story about the instrument repairer and the farmer's violin from The Strad, November 1959, contains all the hallmarks of the Hans Christian Andersen tale The Ugly Duckling. Its message remains as pertinent today as ever
-
FocusHow do you encourage students to develop their own musical ideas?
Teacher Talk: your string teaching questions answered by our panel of experts
-
FocusFrom the archive: Mannerisms
A recent Teacher Talk addressed the question of how students can avoid making tense facial expression when playing. In this article from The Strad, April 1949, our writer has some words of advice for those afflicted
-
FocusShould crescendos always be played on an up bow and decrescendos on a down bow?
Teacher Talk: your string teaching questions answered by our panel of experts
-
FocusHow do you help students avoid stage fright?
Teacher Talk: your string teaching questions answered by our panel of experts
-
FocusEight great performances of the Beethoven Cello Sonatas
Over the past week we’ve been posting videos of some of the finest performances of the Beethoven Cello Sonatas on YouTube. The playlist begins with Rostropovich and Richter performing – for the first and only time in concert – the complete set at the Edinburgh Festival in 1964, ...
-
FocusFrom the archive: The day the 'Huberman' Strad reappeared
In this article from The Strad 1987, Charles Beare recalls the media storm that followed the discovery of the stolen Stradivari violin
-
FocusFrom the archive: Mozart's Pietro Antonio Dalla Costa Violin
This article from The Strad, December 1945, describes the story behind the Dalla Costa violin believed to have been owned and played by Mozart during his years living in Vienna.Click on the pdf to read the article. Click here to read the news story about the Dalla Costa violin donated ...
-
FocusExpert advice on bow hold, bow changes and collapsing top finger joints
Teacher Talk: your string teaching questions answered by our panel of experts
-
FocusFrom the archive: The tale of the King of Spain Strads
The set of decorated Stradivari instruments housed at the Royal Palace of Madrid made news recently when they received their first public performance, by the Quiroga Quartet from Spain (see link below). The stringed instruments have an eccentric history, shrouded in mystery and conflicting views. Stradivari made them for the Spanish ...
