First there was one. Then a few. And now many – all over the world. 

In 2010, cellist Dale Henderson played some music by JS Bach in a subway station in New York City. Plenty of people play music in the NYC subways, busking for whatever money people will toss their way.

But this time was different: Henderson declined the money people wanted to throw in his case. Instead, he offered audiences free postcards explaining that his intentions were to sow the seeds for future generations of classical music lovers.

Hearing a piece of music on WXXI Classical 91.5 inspired quilting artist Caris Burton to create a new work. I love the connections she made with this music and its composer, and I'm glad that she took some time to write up this story to share with us. This was originally posted in 2013, on our old website. I'm bringing it back to our current site, in part because this work is on display in a new exhibit at Gallery 384, as part of a show by the Rochester Area Fiber Artists.

Inside the concert hall of the Violin Museum in Cremona, Italy, Antonio de Lorenzi plays the prelude from Bach's Partita No. 3 on a Stradivarius violin. Cremona is the town where master luthier Antonio Stradivari crafted his storied instruments three centuries ago.

But there's no guarantee that his instrument's inimitable sound will survive for centuries more, says Fausto Cacciatori, the museum's chief conservator.

Along Israel's border with Gaza, thousands of people from all walks of life, all political sides and all social classes, come together to SING!  Why?

It is Koolulam, a self-described “social musical initiative” that literally means to come together and sing, which encourages participants to put aside their differences, of age, ethnicity, social class or political views for a brief period and come together in song.

Rochester area native Steve Gadd, often cited as one of the most influential contemporary drummers in the world, now has his first Grammy Award.

On Sunday, Gadd, who grew up in Irondequoit, graduated from Eastridge High School and also is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, won for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album: Steve Gadd Band.

In less than a month, a team of broadcasters in the U.K. will launch a new classical radio service aimed at young audience members, 35 and under.  Surprised?  The effort is driven by the fact almost half (45%) of young people in a recent survey said classical music offers them an escape from the noise of modern life.

The service, called Scala, will offer familiar works by Beethoven and Holst, as well as music by Jonny Greenwood, Rebecca Dale, and one of Britain’s youngest commissioned composers, 19-year-old Jack Pepper.

The beloved American baritone Sanford Sylvan died Tuesday at his home in Manhattan. Lenore Sylvan, the singer's mother, along with his sister Gwen Sylvan and brother Seth Sylvan confirmed the death to NPR Thursday morning. Marc Mandel, a close family friend and director of program publications at the Boston Symphony Orchestra, said that the death was "entirely sudden" and that it was "deemed to be of natural causes." Sylvan was 65.