In Leipzig, Germany, there are ten researchers, employed full-time, trying to understand everything there is to know about Bach, his daily life, the whereabouts of missing manuscripts, authenticating newly found scores, doing paper analysis, doing handwriting analysis, studying letters, and on and on. The annual BachFest, taking place, over the course of two weekends and
January 2026 Every professional musician has a story or two of a laughably stupid review. Chalk it up to professional mutual mistrust. I recently decided to do something radical, at least from a professional musician’s perspective, by calling a reviewer on inaccuracy in the written review. Doing something like this is basically unheard of in
In 1640, the British colonies of North America published its first book, commonly referred to as “The Bay Psalm Book,” and quietly the groundwork was laid for what would become a national identity. Just twenty years after the Pilgrims’ landing at Plymouth Rock, the occupants of the Massachusetts Bay Colony saw themselves as separate from
Have we reached a juncture where the medium of music is consumed in a way that was never intended by the composer? I’m fascinated by this question because it informs not only why I do what I do,but also what I hope transpires in the hearts of listeners. I believe that the vast majority of
When I was 52, I checked myself into the Emergency Room thinking I was having a heart attack. I didn’t have chest pains, per se, but I definitely felt “off” with that dreaded “sense of impending doom.” This was exactly the age my grandfather was when he dropped dead from an unknown heart condition. I
One of my great fears in life is an absence of stimulation. And so I subconsciously fill every day with a multitude of plans and goals as a way to hold at bay any existential realities of life’s brevity and of my small place in the grand scheme of things. I don’t think I have
When I set up my itinerary for this 8-day trip, it was immediately clear that the city of Moissac should be a destination, that there was too much to see here in the few waking hours one has while walking every day, and that this should be the place to take my day of rest
There is an inevitability that evolves after a few days on the Chemin.
Terroir, a word which Californians love to toss around to refer to the specific effects of a region’s soil on its production of wine, is of course a French word referring to the land (“terre”). But as we use it today, it refers to the characteristics unique to something, uniquely influenced by multiple aspects of
History is full of heart-ache. I walked to Lauzerte, famous as being one of the “plus belles villes de France,” where people have been living at least since 1000 BCE. This afternoon I walked around this exceptionally lovely city, high on a hill, with sweeping views down verdant valleys all around, stately medieval houses everywhere
In the music world, organists are low-on-the-totem-pole. I first discovered this in Conservatory and found it an interesting reversal of organists’ roles in the period between roughly 1600 – 1900. During that time, virtually all composers were organists (completely the reverse of today), organists had the most sure employment possibility of all musicians (the Church),
I didn’t hear the quote directly, it was related to me later by my mother, but the comment made in passing from my very first mentor would mark my career trajectory. If I recall, my mother had asked him about playing the organ in Duke Chapel, and he responded “Every organist wants to play all
Evolving isn’t talked about much in our world. Pity, that – because I consider it the most important thing about life on this earth. We are born with the seeds required for living a meaningful life: compassion, wisdom, a thirst for knowledge, a desire to live (physical health), a desire for happiness (psychological health), a
In 1884, the Tennessee Supreme Court articulated an employment at will doctrine that would eventually be adapted throughout the entire United States (with the sole exception of Montana). With this doctrine, which soon was written into each states’ laws, an employer could dismiss an employee at any time, for any reason, or for no reason.
One of my favorite opening lines of literature is from Dante’s Divine Comedy – “Midway along the journey of our life, I woke to find myself in a dark wood for I had wandered off from the straight path. … But if I would show the good that came of it, I must talk about
Picture New York in January. Even for New Yorkers, like me, it’s the time of year when everyone is anxious to get away and distance themselves from the bitter cold, wind, messy snow, grey, and general dreariness of the heart of winter. In January 1987, I escaped to San Francisco for a holiday with two
