Category Archives: Uncategorized
Michael Tilson Thomas Dies
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 28th April 2026Conductor, composer, and educator Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) passed away on April 22, 2026, at age 81 at his San Francisco home, following a battle with glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain cancer. As the San Francisco Symphony’s music director laureate, he was celebrated for his transformative 25-year tenure (1995–2020), which established the orchestra as a…
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Music for America’s 250th Birthday
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 13th April 2026The program notes for the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra’s May 23, 2026, concert marking America’s 250th birthday are below. Tickets can be purchased here. American Salute Composed in 1942 at the height of World War II, American Salute by Morton Gould stands as one of the most exuberant and enduring expressions of American musical patriotism. The…
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De Minimis
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 27th March 2026A small, bright life once pranced about my hand,A surge of joy that filled each silent room;With darting eyes that seemed to understand,He chased away the darkness and the gloom. With steps so light that left their mark so deep,Each move a grace upon my heart’s constraintAnd now the silence where he used to leapFalls…
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The Greatest Musical Composition Ever – VII
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 16th March 2026I already covered this piece four years ago. It’s so grand that I decided to do it again with a musical analysis and a different solist and transcription. The Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 is likely the greatest work in Johann Sebastian Bach’s organ repertoire and therefore the greatest work for the…
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The Met’s 26-27 Season
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 19th February 2026The Metropolitan Opera officially announced its 2026–27 season today, revealing a scaled-back schedule of 17 productions – the fewest in over 60 years due to ongoing financial constraints. There are also three special events. General Manager Peter Gelb announced he will retire in 2030. He noted that the reduced season is a response to budget…
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New Insight Into the Cause of Lupus
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th January 2026Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks healthy tissues and organs, causing widespread inflammation affecting skin, joints, kidneys, heart, lungs, and brain, with symptoms like fatigue, fever, rashes (especially a butterfly-shaped facial rash), joint pain, and mouth sores that vary in severity and occur in flares and remissions,…
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Program Notes for Falla, Márquez, and Lalo
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 8th December 2025The program notes I wrote for the upcoming Lubbock Symphony Orchestra concert (January 24, 2026) are below. Tickets can be purchased here. The Three-Cornered Hat Serge Diaghilev (1872–1929) was a Russian art critic, patron, and impresario who founded the Ballets Russes company in 1909. Over the next 20 years he commissioned some of the leading composers of his…
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La Bohème in HD 2025
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 8th November 2025Two important announcements immediately followed today’s telecast of Puccini’s glorification of the quotidian. The first was that this show surpassed Graham’s number in frequency of performance. The second, and equally significant, is that from next season forward every show at the Met will be a staging of La Bohème – Puccini’s, not Leoncavallo’s. Casts may…
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Chagas Disease
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 15th October 2025Chagas disease (also known as American trypanosomiasis) is a parasitic infection caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, transmitted primarily by triatomine insects (commonly called “kissing bugs”). It is endemic in Latin America, but cases are increasingly seen in non-endemic regions (such as the U.S. and Europe) due to migration and blood transfusion transmission. Because of…
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Neil Shicoff
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 12th October 2025Neil Shicoff (b 1949) is an American tenor who has attained great success both in America and Europe. A native of Brooklyn, he is the son of the cantor Sidney Shicoff. The younger Shicoff trained as a cantor as well as studying singing at Juilliard. He made his operatic debut in the title role in…
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