Hi all!! Many apologies for the delay! Take the Stage and finals took over our lives a little bit :) BUT WE'RE BACK! So here are the questions and answers for our first ASK US blog post!!!…

You may have seen So Percussion in various settings, from our stages at Carnegie Hall to smaller community venues, but one thing remains true of…

For the second time this season, Leslie serves as the artistic director and conductor of our interactive Broadway-themed Community Sing event! Joined by a talented Broadway cast, Broadway band, and PACE University dance students, Leslie presents …

Grammy-nominated composer-pianist Vijay Iyer plays stunning music as a highly celebrated and award-winning soloist and with a trio and his all-star sextet. Here, associate editor of JazzTimes Jeff…

Hello Musical Exchange members!! Madison, Brett-Marco, and I had an idea to create a weekly blog based on…

We're pleased to announce details for the inaugural July 2013 tour by the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, which, beginning this summer, annually brings together some of the most talented young orchestral players from across the United States, ages 16-19. The NYO-USA's 2013 summer schedule includes five…

We are so thrilled that our illustrious Broadway friends and family were excited to share their knowledge and expertise with all the members of the Carnegie Hall Musical Exchange. Watch their videos and interviews as part of our Seven Ages of Musicals Project.

+ JOIN THE MUSICAL…

All I can say is WOW! The show - Take the Stage - is going to be absolutely phenomenal. I am extremely humbled and excited to be apart of it. I have to admit, I think one of the most amazing parts was learning Chicago choreography from Melissa Rae Mahon,…

Hey guys, so I have been busy since my last blog – yay!! I was in NYC for more auditions last year, which was amazingly fun, I did some training with awesome coaches in LA, and I have been in shows in Atlanta where I live – some of my favorites were Zombie Prom at AWP (my acting school) and Carmen, which was the 2^nd opera I have sung with The Atlanta Opera.

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The Metropolitan Opera's (New York) new Ring Cycle (Wagner) productions are all designed around an enormous, sophisticated and malleable mechanical set known as The Machine. You can see its exciting and versatile potential for yourself in the trailer Deutsche Grammophone produced for its DVDs of the four-opera set. 

It looks quite stunning in…

This morning Brett-Marco Glauser, Brittany Bigelow, and I had a great meeting at Carnegie Hall to discuss the "…

The scope of keyboardist-composer-producer George Duke's imprint on jazz and pop music over the past 40 years is almost impossible to calculate. He has collaborated with some of the most prominent figures in the industry. A producer since the 1980s, he has crafted scores of fine recordings-many of them Grammy winners-for artists who represent almost every corner of the contemporary American music…

Well, today I sat down to compose a bit for The Film Score Project. It is always interesting to sit without knowing what's going to happen next.

And since many fellow members of this community have asked how to compose music...well, in this post I intend write how I did it so far, just in case anybody finds it useful for this project or future creations.…

With the deadline for the Film Score Project quickly approaching, it is time to start either finishing…

The Logan Arts Leadership Institute (LALI) at Interlochen Center for the Arts is now open for registration! LALI is a free virtual program designed to promote arts leadership among high school and undergraduate students to help them understand the kinds of experiences and study required for new leaders in the arts. Because the…

Violinist Jenny Scheinman, along with all-star bandmates guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Brian Blade, presents the concert-hall world debut of their versatile and melodic trio this month. Here, Jeff Tamarkin reveals the violinist's surprising background.

One of her collaborators, renowned guitarist Bill Frisell, has been a regular musical partner for more than a decade—the two have shared many stages together and contributed often to one another's recordings. But drummer Brian…

An accomplished singer has conducted every vocal master class I have ever attended, save this one. To be honest, I do not think the idea of a collaborative pianist (more on this later) teaching a class for singers ever entered my mind. This is not because I do not think it is a good idea, quite the…

I recently had the pleasure of attending a sold out Carnegie Hall jazz concert featuring Dianne Reeves with special…

We have gotten a tremendous response to the Film Score Project call for submissions, and we are excited to hear the new pieces you are writing. As you write or think about writing, we thought it might be helpful to share some tips from experienced film composers. There are a million great websites and resources out there, but we found the following to be particularly…

As some of you may recall, I had been spending my previous semester working on a piece for a contest being put on by the Minnesota Sinfonia. The rules were to compose for full strings and some wind/brass instruments a piece from 5 to 8 minutes long. Well, I've finally finished it! It's not too long and it's not too short either, which is why I've decided to label it as an "overture". It also includes a part of a piece that I put up here, called "Mon Grandpere", but with a bit different…