Even if I wanted to, I can’t pick up the phone and call Brahms. Or Bach, or Palestrina. So imagine how excited I was to grab the phone and call Sammy Nestico! Mr. Nestico, now 86, is one of the music world’s most congenial figures. … Read more
What’s this program about? Sammy Nestico. That name rings in the hearts of bandsmen, swing dancers, fans of movie and TV scores, and generations of music students. Who is this man with his broad smile and open heart, this man who has played with the … Read more
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We’ve been talking lately a lot about stories here in the Professor Carol office. Living in a small Cowboy town provides me a with wealth of stories, the same kind of stories I grew up with in the Virginia mountains. Here, however, the topics involve … Read more
T-M-E-A. The Texas Music Teachers’ Association Annual Convention in San Antonio, Texas (home of the Alamo). That’s where I spent four days last week, and I simply have to tell you about it. My head is still spinning. Thousands of accomplished high-school musicians, their families, … Read more
Igor Stravinsky’s fairy-tale ballet The Firebird is filled with magical themes, opulent color, and provocative special effects. This program tells the story of Firebird and the Ballets russes, the brilliant theatrical company headed by Sergei Diaghilev that created and staged the work in Paris in 1910. The … Read more
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The best concerts (films, plays, art exhibits) linger in the mind. Even the ones you don’t like have value, as you mull over what displeased you. But when they’re good, they remain in the ear and in the mind. I heard a provocative concert this … Read more
Most of North America froze over the 2009 holiday season. Here in North Central Texas, we had a rare Christmas blizzard, with all of the attendant joys and challenges. But the real story started when the temperature warmed up. Mud, mud, and more mud. Snow … Read more
Get ready to swing with Roland Muzquiz, master percussionist with the Dallas Wind Symphony and someone who can help us to learn what swing really is. Take it away, Roland!
Enjoy this new interview with Michael Shih, Concertmaster of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and passionate advocate for Chamber Music!
You will find a new featured video on the home page: a conversation with Michael Conrady about the pipe organ. Michael is the music director at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Dallas. You’ll also meet him in the discussion of Johann Sebastian Bach (Unit … Read more