In an effort to promote the coverage of live violin performance, Violinist.com each week presents links to reviews of notable concerts and recitals around the world. Click on the highlighted links to ...

I'll never forget the first time I met Dr. William Sloan in person - because he immediately sent me on one of my life's most memorable and improbable adventures. It was 2010, and Dr. Sloan showed up...

Has it ever happened to you that you could hardly control your bow in a concert or some other challenging situation? That you tried to fight bow-trembling by gripping the bow harder or even stopping t...

In mid-August I strung my violin with <a href="https://shop.warchal.com/products/the-beast">The Beast</a> violin strings by Warchal - and I would like to offer you my impressions. Full disclosure: Th...

LA Phil Associate Concertmaster <a href="https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/artists/5602/bing-wang">Bing Wang</a> said she'd never been to Coachella - until now. On Saturday, Wang and the entire <a href...

The 1731 "Heifetz, Piel" Stradivari violin that was owned for nearly 30 years by 20th century violin legend Jascha Heifetz will be offered for private sale this spring by <a href="https://tarisio.com/...

It's important to have a place where you can practice - where you can experiment, make mistakes, repeat things a zillion times - and not worry about the neighbors, relatives, or anyone else listening,...

It's no surprise that at least some of the inspiration for Philippe Quint's latest album, <a href="https://www.pentatonemusic.com/product/milestones/">Milestones</a>, came from the first female compos...

One reason I make it a priority to go to the yearly <a href="https://www.astastrings.org/">American String Teachers Association</a> Conference is that it gives me the opportunity to see the most innov...

It has been a devastating week in Los Angeles, and as I write this, fires continue to burn. I live in Pasadena, two miles south of the Eaton Canyon Fire, which ripped through the community to our nort...

For a professional musician, developing the motivation for daily practice is not a necessarily a problem - it's just part of the job. Daily practice certainly requires intense concentration, endless repetition, and an almost obsessive attention to detail. Scales and exercises may have little sustaining musical interest, but they are necessary for the acquisition and maintenance of technique. But most amateur musicians turn to music as a source of relaxation and enjoyment after a grueling day of work, and the thought of struggling for an hour or two with scales and exercises is far from appealing. With limited time and energy, the amateur usually skips the drills and starts playing through favorite concertos and sonatas. Ironically, only consistent work on exercises will allow him or her to play those favorite sonatas with satisfaction. Psychologically, when the musician does not put in that hour of practice, they may experience a sense of failure and a feeling of guilt at not doing what they are "supposed" to be doing, or that constantly uncomfortable feeling that one has not done nearly enough. And yet to do a great deal more requires enormous concentration, energy, time, effort, and a dedication to music that is difficult for a non-professional to sustain. Part of the solution to this problem may lie in changing the definition of what constitutes "enough work." To expect an unreasonably large work-load on a daily basis can be ultimatel self-defeating. If you know that you are not likely to practice for a full hour a day, then why torture yourself with the feeling that whatever work you do accomplish is not nearly enough?

The <a href="https://www.laphil.com/">Los Angeles Philharmonic</a> is in a state of transition, and theme of change and the passage of time were on full display on Tuesday night in a chamber concert celebrating concertmaster <a href="https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/artists/1027/martin-chalifour">Martin Chalifour</a>'s 30 years with the orchestra, which will conclude with his retirement at the end of this season. Among the many changes in store for the LA Phil: the departure of Associate Concertmaster <a href="https://www.violinist.com/blog/laurie/20245/30001/">Nathan Cole</a>, who is now concertmaster of the Boston Symphony, and in 2026, the departure of Music Director <a href="https://www.violinist.com/blog/laurie/20232/29515/">Gustavo Dudamel</a> for the New York Philharmonic. Tuesday evening's concert began with Chalifour at the microphone, sharing his thoughts and memories and expressing gratitude for the friends and colleagues who would be performing with him on the stage. The music began with guitarist <a href="https://makgrgic.com/">Mak Grgic</a> joining Chalifour for Piazzolla's "Histoire du Tango," a piece with four movements representing four different periods of time in the history of Tango. Chalifour described Grgic as an artist of great expressive quality, and his assessment certainly proved true.