Writing
Some of my recent non-fiction writings are posted here.
Review of Charles Richard-Hamelin, performer of the Kilburn Memorial Concert on April 4, 2017.
Written for Edmonton Classical Music, a site created by Mark Morris (Edmonton Journal) and Iain Gillis.
Yue Deng is currently Artist-in-Residence at the University of Alberta. She has studied at Oberlin Conservatory and the Juilliard School, worked with Barbara Streisand, Josh Groban, Diana Krall,and Michael Buble, and performed in Carnegie Hall, Birdland, and Avery Fischer Hall.
Published in the November 2014 edition of the Alberta String Association newsletter.
Works discussed:
Violin Sonata No. 2 - Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 10 - Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Concerto in D Major for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet, Op. 21 -
Ernest Chausson (1855-1899)
Published in the program of the Edmonton Chamber Music Society concert, April 2017.
Works discussed:
Piano Trio in G Major - Claude Debussy (1862–1918)
Cello Suite No. 2 in D Minor - Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Variations on a Rococo Theme - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893)
Cello Sonata No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 38 - Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
From the junior recital of my Bachelor of Music program (April 2015).
There are two camps of musicians: those who have perfect pitch and those who wish they did.
Published in the November 2014 edition of the Alberta String Association newsletter.
Petar Dundjerski is the conductor of the University of Alberta Symphony Orchestra. He was the Assistant Conductor in Residence of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra 2006-2008, under the mentorship of Music Director William Eddins.
Published in the April 2014 edition of the Alberta String Association newsletter.
Anner Bylsma, Pablo Casals and Steven Isserlis’s Recordings of the Sarabande from Bach’s Suite No. 2 in D Minor for Unaccompanied Cello BWV 1008.
The search for an “authentic” interpretation of Bach’s Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello has been a source of contention among cellists; the suites contain almost no musical indications such as dynamics, tempo or bowings. In this paper, three recordings of the Sarabande from the second suite will be discussed in terms of their approaches to authenticity. The first recording is that of Pablo Casals, who first popularized the Suites. The second is the 1979 recording of Anner Bylsma, who is a noted advocate and practitioner of historically informed performance. The third is that of Steven Isserlis.
For many people, the issue of nuclear weapons belongs to the past – to the end of World War 2 and the Cold War – but it is far from being simply part of history. Have we grown complacent to the idea of nuclear weapons?