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Premium ❘ FeatureSession Report: violist Hiyoli Togawa on recording her new album, Children!
Violist Hiyoli Togawa speaks to Carlos María Solare about her latest recording, Children!, which mixes new music with Bach and is based around the themes of childhood memories and family love
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Premium ❘ Focus‘No one needs a second Heifetz, we need you’ - Philippe Quint’s life lessons
The Russian-born US violinist on his complex musical upbringing and the power of self-reflection
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Premium ❘ FeatureTelemann’s Viol Fantaisies on the viola
When a long-lost set of Telemann bass viol fantaisies was found in a private collection a few years ago, Mikhail ‘Misha’ Galaganov set about arranging them for the viola. Here he explores the history of the works and reveals some of the challenges he encountered in his quest
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Premium ❘ FeatureInheriting others’ pupils: a fresh start
Taking on other people’s ex-pupils can be a tricky business – especially when they come with ingrained unhealthy habits. Focusing on upper strings, Alun Thomas outlines what may need to be addressed to make progress
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Premium ❘ FocusOpinion: How improvisation can help with perfectionism
Having discovered a love of improvisation during the pandemic, cellist Simone Seales believes that the practice can free classically trained musicians from a typically unhealthy fear of imperfection
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Premium ❘ FocusPostcard from Switzerland: Verbier Festival
Charlotte Gardner headed to the Swiss Alps for the Verbier Festival’s 30th-anniversary season where she was doubly dazzled by the combination of star players and the quality of the music-making
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Premium ❘ FeatureAnne Akiko Meyers: What’s next?
US violinist Anne Akiko Meyers speaks to Rita Fernandes about her Californian roots, lifelong hunger for commissioning new works, and determination to make a lasting impact on the future of new music
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Premium ❘ FeatureMasterclass: Torleif Thedéen on the Lalo Cello Concerto
Cellist Torleif Thedéen discusses how to give a rhythmic, characterful performance of the first movement of this often-neglected work
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Premium ❘ Feature‘Half-hearted work is no use’ - From the archive: December 1893
Violin professor John Tiplady Carrodus (1836–95) exhorts students to show the same commitment to their craft that he did when he was a boy
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Premium ❘ FocusSentimental Work: Ilya Gringolts on Dvořák’s Romance in F minor
The Romance in F minor for violin and orchestra was the first piece by Dvořák that the Russian-born violinist ever played – and a passport into the composer’s unique harmonic sound world
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Premium ❘ Article‘Our viola group was special’ - Letters to the editor: December 2023
A selection of letters The Strad receives each month from its readers around the world: December 2023 issue
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Premium ❘ Article‘Vast quantities of music flung at them’ - From the Archive: November 1923
Composer A.M. Gifford presents a compelling argument for musicians to be more adventurous in their programming
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Premium ❘ FocusOpinion: The benefits of rest for students
Cellist and teacher Naomi Yandell is often pleasantly surprised at how much progress can be made by students during a break from lessons
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Premium ❘ FeatureKronos Quartet at 50: Hunger for the new
Kronos Quartet has been at the vanguard of contemporary string quartet performance for 50 years. Founder David Harrington and former cellist Joan Jeanrenaud speak with Thomas May about the legacy of innovation that the ensemble is celebrating with an ambitious series of projects this season
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Premium ❘ FocusSentimental Work: Violinist Aleksey Igudesman on Schumann’s Piano Quartet
The Andante cantabile third movement of Schumann’s Piano Quartet in E flat major op.47 holds stirring memories for the innovative violinist and composer
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Premium ❘ FeatureSession Report: The Solem Quartet’s recording of 20th-century and contemporary music
The Solem Quartet’s violist Stephen Upshaw talks to Harry White about the themes of light, shade and perspective that link the works on the ensemble’s album of 20th-century and contemporary music
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Premium ❘ NewsPremiere of the Month: Elena Kats-Chernin on her new double concerto
The Sarenka Concerto is in memory of an extraordinary woman
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Premium ❘ FeatureSphinx Organization: Change for good
For the past quarter-century the Sphinx Organization has worked tirelessly to bring much-needed diversity to the US classical music scene. Bruce Hodges examines its achievements, and hears from its founder and its president about the future
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Premium ❘ FocusPostcard from Boulder: Colorado Music Festival
A chance to hear the world premiere of a brand new violin concerto commissioned and played by Joshua Bell was the highlight of a trip to the Colorado Music Festival for Emma Baker
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Premium ❘ Focus‘I had this nagging feeling that I belonged at the Berlin Philharmonic’ - Matthew McDonald’s life lessons
The Australian double bassist on his influences and journey to becoming the Berlin Philharmonic’s section principal