Category: music

Taliban Shoot Dead Folk Singer After Announcing Public Music Ban in Afghanistan

The Taliban has executed a well-known folk singer in a village in Afghanistan after officials announced a ban on playing music in public, according to local reports. Fawad Andarabi, a well-known folk singer, was killed in the Afghanistan village of Andarab, north of Kabul, a region where parts of the population are rejecting Taliban rule, The Associated…


15 Months Later, Radio City Reopens With Dave Chappelle

NEW YORK—Fifteen months after shuttering for the pandemic, New York’s Radio City Music Hall reopened its doors Saturday for the Tribeca Festival premiere of a new Dave Chappelle documentary for a full-capacity, fully-vaccinated audience. The debut of “Dave Chappelle: This Time This Place,” which chronicles Chappelle’s pandemic stand-up series held in rural Ohio cornfields, marked…


Tawny Kitaen, Star of ’80s Rock Music Videos, Dies at 59

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.—Tawny Kitaen, the sultry red-haired actress who appeared in rock music videos during the heyday of MTV and starred opposite Tom Hanks in the 1984 comedy “Bachelor Party,” has died. She was 59. The Orange County coroner’s office said she died at her home in Newport Beach on Friday. The cause of death…


Dementia: Listening to A Favourite Playlist Linked to Reduced Symptoms

While music therapy reportedly has a positive effect on behaviour and mood in people living with dementia, it is not always easily accessible, particularly when resources for specialised dementia care may be limited. A new Australian study has found listening to personalised music or a playlist of one’s favourite music to be an affordable, non-drug…


The Scent and the Sound of Roses

It is that time of year when I love to putter about in my garden, which somehow feels simpatico with the creativity of composing music. As a matter of fact, a number of great composers have loved nature’s flora and have responded in music. It would be lovely to explore some flower-inspired compositions, but we…


‘Tell Tchaikovsky the News’—the Absurdity of Cultural Appropriation

Commentary On March 8, 2021, the National Post reported that pop star Bruno Mars was being attacked for “cultural appropriation” of black culture and music because he’s neither African, nor African American by descent. This is just one more example of a growing chorus of cultural outrage from the left and from the fellow travelers…


New Film ‘Violino’: Vibrations of the Soul

Our souls were captivated when we heard the magical sounds of a 300-year-old Stradivarius violin. Where did this ethereal sound come from? Why do we rarely get to experience anything like it nowadays? In searching for the answer, our team of filmmakers started one of the most magical yet enduring journeys that has changed our…


The Consolation of the Classics

Despite shutdowns that spread across the world last year and caused the performing arts industry to grind to a halt, finding a musician with idle hands remained as difficult a task as ever. “Some of my colleagues said, ‘Oh, I can finally play “Hammerklavier,”’ or, ‘In lockdown, I learned book one or two of “The…


What Does It Mean to Be a ‘Vessel’ for Music?

A phrase one hears from time to time among instrumentalists, but especially singers, is their desire to “be a vessel” when performing. As a composer, I have my own version of this sentiment, too, but wondered what it really means. First of all, behind this idea is a certain psychology that goes with performing or…


Video: What Instant Fame Is Like in the Music Industry: Interview With Mason Musso

We all hear stories about the music industry, the good and the bad, and what it’s like dealing with record labels, rising to the top, and going independent as many artists are now doing. To get a better sense of the music industry, and life behind the scenes, we sat down for an interview with…