Stories

Ukrainian opera singer in Japan prays for peace in melody

When Oksana Stepanyuk, an award-winning soprano with the Japan Opera Foundation, performs “Melody,” composed by Myroslav Skoryk, a Ukrainian, her voice turns into a wail of mourning.

Stephen RaskauskasJanuary 8, 2016

Sono Osato, 96, Reflects on Dancing With the Ballet Russes

Lisa FlynnDecember 17, 2015

Playlist: Your Top 10 Favorite Piano Concertos

Stephen RaskauskasDecember 10, 2015

Playlist: Rufus Wainwright’s 3 Favorite Opera Composers

Violinist Aaron Rosand dies at 92

Keegan MorrisJuly 11, 2019

Violinist Aaron Rosand has died at the age of 92. Rosand was born in 1927 just outside of Chicago in Hammond, Indiana, and at age ten, the lauded virtuoso made his orchestral debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Best known for his interpretations of Romantic works (self-billed as the “Last Romantic”), Rosand studied with Efrem Zimbalist at the Curtis Institute of Music at the beginning of what would become a more than 70-year playing career.

Playlist: Fretless and Linear — How Classical Violin Shaped Andrew Bird’s Sound

Daniel GoldbergJuly 10, 2019

Using his violin and virtuosic whistle, Andrew Bird genre-jumps from indie rock to jazz, and from folk to classical. Born in Lake Forest, Bird began learning classical violin from the Suzuki Method at the age of four and recalls, “My mom would have WFMT on all the time… My dad listened to Merle Haggard.”

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Itzhak Perlman’s 5 Most Memorable Moments at 70 Years Old

Stephen RaskauskasNovember 12, 2015

Violinist Itzhak Perlman is one of the most famous names in classical music. The Israeli-American, now 70 years old, has collaborated with some of the greatest musicians of our time in his long and illustrious career. Here, he reflects on five of the most memorable moments in his career.

The Many Colors of American Indian Music

Stephen RaskauskasNovember 6, 2015

"But for some reason, people are surprised to learn that American Indians compose 'classical' music."

How ‘Wozzeck’ Changed Opera Forever

Stephen RaskauskasNovember 5, 2015

Alban Berg’s opera Wozzeck revolutionized the art form when it premiered in 1925. When Berg saw Georg Büchner’s play Woyzeck, he knew that he wanted to compose an opera based upon it. But an opera based upon this revolutionary expressionist play “demanded a new kind of operatic language as well,” according to The Metropolitan Opera Guide to Recorded Opera. Sir Andrew Davis, music director and principal ...

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