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Today’s program is the annual Sunday Baroque Bach Birthday Bash! As host of Sunday Baroque for 31 1/2 years, I have thrown this musical celebration for Johann Sebastian Bach since the early days of the program. It is both daunting and delightful to craft a representative narrative of Bach’s output within the confines of a […]

I recently attended a piano recital given by an extraordinarily talented friend. His program included a solo piano version of the first part of Igor Stravinsky’s groundbreaking ballet, THE RITE OF SPRING. It was the second time I’d heard my friend play this challenging work, and for the second time I was blown away. The

Have you ever heard the word “earworm”? It’s a melody that gets into your brain and won’t go away — a tune you keep humming over and over until you eventually find a way to dislodge it, or it mercifully evaporates on its own. “Air conducting” is the reflexive waving of arms that happens when

One of the many enjoyable aspects of my work is getting to interview interesting people. Often these are musicians, and I love asking them how they got interested in music and what inspired them. Recently, a violinist I interviewed told me he saw Itzhak Perlman on Sesame Street, and all these years later he still

I recently attended a memorial service for the mother of a friend and musical colleague. She was a woman in her late 80s — an accomplished and beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt, friend, neighbor, and philanthropist. For about an hour, people shared stories of her sense of fun, generosity, hospitality, directness and kindness. I

Over the past few weeks I have been busy  … how about you? My days have been joyfully filled with baking, entertaining, playing holiday concerts, and listening to special music to program on Sunday Baroque for the holidays. Many people have favorite family treats that are synonymous with the holidays; maybe you’re like me and

Just before the winter holidays each year, I hand-pick some of my favorite recent recordings and compile them in a list for you to consider giving as gifts to the music lovers on your list. The Sunday Baroque Holiday Gift List has become an annual tradition stretching back many years! I seek out a variety

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays! It’s not the food (since I’m not especially fond of turkey), it’s the overall spirit of the occasion. I love that we set aside time to get together with others and acknowledge the good things in our lives. My parents hosted the family Thanksgiving gatherings when I was

Recently, a friend posted something on Facebook that initiated a flood of replies from her FB friends. The friend in question is a prominent and highly respected professional musician, and the gist of her post was to express her “guilty pleasure” of loving a handful of well-known orchestral compositions. She sheepishly listed several of those