Professor CarolIf you are looking for a place to start getting to know Russian art, here are five suggested paintings. People frequently tell me they want to get to know art or music, but they just don’t know the best place to start. Well, there really … Read more
As I began to write this post about the paintings of Konstantin Makovsky (1839-1915), a friend called to tell me about today’s catastrophe in the Moscow Metro. This is a line I easily could have been on this morning. It’s the line my Russian friend … Read more
It’s not a Moscow I recognize any more. When I first came to the Soviet Union in 1981, the grey, quiet streets of Moscow moved at an Adagio, with a formality that bespoke centuries of burden. The sufferings of the Second World still reflected in … Read more
A reader asked me to compare our 2011 Exploring America’s Musical Heritage program (2 DVDs) with the on-line course America’s Artistic Legacy. In terms of chronological scope, both programs cover approximately the same time period: 1600 to c. 1950. Beyond that, they are quite different … Read more
I was joined by Dr. Jean Rioux, professor of philosophy at Benedictine College, for a discussion of Ancient Greece and how its philosophy and culture affected the Early Christian Church. The session is part of our course on Early Sacred Music available in the Circle … Read more
A Tribute to Dr. Mary Berry 1917-2008. Sometimes you get lucky. At the beginning of the 1980s while living in Portland Oregon, I saw a notice for a two-day “chant-workshop” directed by Dr. Mary Berry. In musicology courses at the University of North Carolina, I’d … Read more
When I saw that headline, I assumed the story would be about cats in paintings. I was pretty excited, since lots of dogs appear in masterwork paintings. But cats? The beauty of a headline is just that: it’s a headline, designed to grab attention. Somewhere … Read more
Watching the opening extravaganza at the Sochi Winter Olympics, we experienced the combination of two things not often combined in our modern culture. We saw the most opulent display of technology one can imagine used to enhance the most opulent music and dance found in … Read more
The word itself drips with trendiness: Google. Plus, “hangout” doesn’t really make you think of scholarly pursuits, does it? But there it is. “Google Hangouts” is the new place to go! And we’re going. Starting with our Spring 2014 courses, we’ve added Google Hangouts to … Read more
I continue to enjoy Suzanne Massie’s Land of the Firebird, especially when I’m teaching a Russian course or leading a tour to Russia, because it has so much useful information and is a delight to read. In preparing for our new course in Early Sacred Music, I … Read more