August 1, 2017
A couple days ago my 8 years old daughter brought home a printed sheet with lyrics. It was a new song she sings in the school choir. She asked me to find and play it on the YouTube. Only a couple seconds into listening the song […]
July 25, 2017
Last evening we returned back from Europe. I wanted my children to see where I came from and to experience their grandmother, aunts and uncles. After years this was one of the best trips we have made. But also a sad trip. My mama Olga is […]
July 16, 2017
In this time and age hardly someone expects you to go and play a favourite song under the window of your dream girl. Even less, to play a song or a music you composed yourself. Such a serenade could get you into a jail instead of […]
July 6, 2017
You may remember those times, when music and movie stars were the only celebrities you could encounter in the news. Yes, it was a while ago. At that time I was working as a music journalist and always got surprised by the amount of people interested […]
June 30, 2017
If multitasking capability really exists, musicians must be the best multitaskers. Take, for example, the organ player in the Finale of the Symphony No. 3 from the French composer Camille Saint-Saens. He uses all his four limbs to play music on five keyboards – at the […]
June 22, 2017
Making and playing music, or musicking, has become activity almost exclusive to properly educated specialists, also known as professional musicians. To prove the point, let me ask you a question: When was the last time you made a completely free choice to listen to some amateur […]
June 14, 2017
Stress is damaging still younger and younger people. Now even teenagers. Average age in onset of depression is 13; it used to be 42! This interesting information presented neuropsychologist Dr. William R. Stixrud at the seminar on Transcendental Mediation organized by the David Lynch Foundation. He […]
June 7, 2017
Two interesting and seemingly unrelated writings crossed their paths recently on my computer screen. The first is a book The Zen Of Listening: Mindful Communication In The Age Of Distraction, written by Rebecca Shafir. The second is a Medium article The Rise of Audio & Voice, […]
May 31, 2017
“Why don’t people give a shit anymore?” … about creative people. This is the question the author is asking in the article with the same name – I added only the ‘victim’. And the truth is that my opinion had been very similar some time ago. […]