Any fellow or guest of the American Academy in Berlin will quickly realize that there is one dreaded social event with which are going to become pretty well acquainted: the Formal Seated Dinner.

When the academies of Rome and Berlin pool their resources everyone benefits.

Sometimes when an artist bends himself enough to the task at hand, he or she breaks through instead of just breaking.

My recent experiences with audience Q&A in pre-concert talks have again confirmed that there are at least three questions (and accompanying misconceptions) that absolutely will not die.

Chamber rehearsals offer a chance to talk with the musicians, and actual time to do so, which is a hell of a better deal than what most orchestras will be down for: maybe 20-25 minutes tops on a new piece, most of which you will you will be sitting out while the conductor gets the group into shape.

I’m not a fan of people bothering each other during concerts, but compared to, say, slowly unwrapping a Ricola, clapping between movements seems pretty benign.

A good teacher’s ability to share a vision is particularly powerful in shaping a composer’s development.

I’ve agreed to look over some entries for a student composition prize, and scores are spilling all over the desk and onto the floor.

After nearly three years of writing back-to-back commissions the truth is that I’m pretty fed up with the whole way of doing things.

It is our own choices that define “home” and not arbitrary factors of geography and heredity.