Just a quick update. I’ll be doing a series entitled “Sounds of the Silent Majority: Music and the Architecture of American Conservativism.”

Grocery shopping in the city is a drag, but I made a life-altering discovery at around 9pm last night: Trader Joe’s sells Weetabix. Having been separated from my favorite cereal since my departure from the UK, I was a little apprehensive. Fortunately I was not disappointed. After my morning run, the fibrous bricks turned into … Read more Weetabix

It’s confession time. Last week, I judged a book by its cover. After reading a blurb in the New Yorker, I decided that a new release looked too sensational and ill-conceived to pass up. The backdrop of Lauren Belfer’s And After the Fire is pretty far-out, even kitschy at first glance: a lost manuscript by … Read more More Summer Reading

School’s out. Hooray.  I’ve got a summer off. No scheduled tours, performances, competitions or festivals, leaving me lots of time to pay attention to you, my devoted readers, as well as to the upkeep of my new coffee grinder. To compensate for my lack of musical commitments, last week I decided to embark on the … Read more Summer Reading

Semester rolls along, even though it’s coming to an end pretty soon. As jury season is in full swing, the mood around school is palpably grim as violinist upon violinist bemoan the requirements to play Paganini studies ad nauseam and pianists discuss the seemingly endless rows of sonatas and lieder they have to accompany. Everyone’s … Read more For Meryl

There comes a point in every student’s career when you return to a piece you’ve worked on before. It’s an essential part of artistic refinement, but the implications can be complex. There’s no way to approach the piece with the same freshness as you did originally. You start to remember the last performance, and the … Read more Ten years on…

Easter went by without a hitch. But like many of my colleagues in the organ world, I’m still recovering from Holy Week. As with many things in life, the problem is not so much the work so much as strategizing how to get away from it. I failed miserably.  My Holy Week Monday I can’t remember … Read more Batman v Superman

It took Juilliard 6 weeks to remove a petrified cockroach carcass from a staircase near the harp studio. I hate cockroaches. Almost as much as I hate useless emails from university administrations. Dear Students,                                           … Read more This week at Juilliard

Claustrophobia finally set in. Despite this city’s size, it’s been possible to go for days on end without leaving Lincoln Center. I live on 64th, study on 65th, work out on 67th, work on W 69th, and shop for groceries on 72nd. It’s convenient and a little infuriating all at once. Sensing my increasing irritability, … Read more Maundy Thursday

Finding a place to unwind has proven difficult, as New York may be the loudest place I have ever been.  Or slept. As of late, I have come to abandon hope of sleeping before 3am or so, as the tenant above me has a knack for self expression. Shouts of “fuck,” “shit,” “why are you doing … Read more 2am, The Chelsea Diner