Henri Dutilleux has died. His work as a musician and composer is, and like Stravinsky, will remain a pinnacle of accomplishment from our time; and given how long his creativity lasted, it is fair to say his achievements span multiple generations.
I had the great fortune of working with both of these great men. In my [...]
Sometimes we are caught unawares just how much someone meant to us over the years. While I intended to use a recent opportunity to offer tribute to the great Janos Starker after a performance with the Detroit Symphony this last weekend, it was during the 43 minutes of playing the Dvořák concerto that I began [...]
I am so very happy to announce that the HEARTbeats Foundation benefit album that has been in the making for nearly three years has officially been released! Working with so many wonderful colleagues and close friends on a project that has so much personal meaning was an enormously gratifying experience. It’s available now for download [...]
I am so humbled that the Wall Street Journal took interest in my Delta airline saga. Recently, one of their reporters, Scott McCartney, wrote an article about not only my ordeal but about how cellists and other musicians are having an increasingly difficult time at some airlines when flying with instruments.
As an added bonus to the [...]
There comes a time in each of our lives when we take stock of our past, present, and future and this is exactly how I’ve spent the past year with one vitally important aspect of my life and career. It is with these thoughts that I have recently decided to part ways with my best [...]
There are very few people and musicians with whom I have worked and developed a friendship in the last 50 years as dear as my friendship with James DePreist. For me, he represented the kind of man, warm, giving, caring and honest person that one simply loved being in the presence of. Those rare and [...]
Rejection is a powerful feeling and one we have all experienced in one form or another but I have to say that I was dumbfounded when I received a Dear John letter from Delta Airlines at the beginning of 2012. Like most rejection letters, it started off with such a polite tone I thought it [...]
