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Classical Classroom

Jun 29, 2015

Every good Beethoven deserves a fanboy, and Robert Schumann was that guy. Who was Schumann, and how was his work shaped by the influence of Beethoven? Pianist, Curtis Institute professor, and writer Jonathan Biss explains all – including his own (extremely cool) fanboy-esque immersion in the works of Schumann...


Jun 22, 2015

Wu Man, world-renowned pipa player, stopped by the Classroom while she was in Houston to teach all about the French horn. JK! She taught all about the pipa, of course! In this episode, she talks about the pipa’s origins, its repertoire, about how she began playing it, and she plays some sweet tunes to illustrate the...


Jun 15, 2015

What is a concertmaster? We wanted to know, too, so we schlepped over to the Texas Music Festival (now happening at the UH Moores School of Music), found ourselves some concertmasters, and asked them all about what they do. Glenn Dicterow is the outgoing concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic where he’s ruled for...


Jun 8, 2015

The pianist gives a lesson on one of the Big Daddies of classical music.

Awadagin Pratt, a man so awesome that his website URL is just his first name, talks Johannes Brahms. Pratt is a recording artist, Professor of Piano, Artist in Residence, Chairman of the Piano Department, and Artistic Director of the Art of the...


Jun 1, 2015

The violinist walks through a piece by a lesser-known composer who was once more famous than Mozart.

Grammy-winning violinist Hilary Hahn, who has played a few concerts in her day – somewhere around 1,437 of them – talks about Henri Vieuxtemps’ Violin Concerto No. 4, which she plays on her latest CD. Is music...