I grew up in the NYC area surrounded by a large extended family of first- and second-generation Italian immigrants, most hailing from Sicily. I enjoyed the musical aftermath of our extended family visits where uncles and cousins would play their mandolins and guitars after sharing a traditional meal and lively conversation! 

I recently received one of my uncle’s Gibson mandolins from my cousin that was hanging on his wall and during a recent visit, it was offered and became my current musical obsession.

  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.

A place for community arts will be reopening next year in the Finger Lakes.

The space that will be the Sands Constellation Theater at Fort Hill Performing Arts Center has been dormant for years, but will be hosting community arts events early next year.

Holger Stave, Executive Director of the center, says the process began when the Finger Lakes Symphony Orchestra was looking for a permanent home.

It’s called Arts in the Loop, and the play on words is partly related to the filling in and revamping of a portion of the Inner Loop.

Jim Doser, director of the Institute for Music Leadership at the Eastman School of Music, is one of the people involved in these discussions. He says the hope is to create art, media and technology exhibits throughout downtown.

Pianist Jeremy Denk's latest album is a musical odyssey. Starting with the austere tones of medieval composer Guillaume de Machaut, Denk travels in time across the keyboard all the way to the 20th Century landing on the atonality of Karlheinz Stockhausen and the minimalism of Philip Glass.

In Chicago, musicians have gone on strike. The players in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, one of the country's top orchestras, let their contract expire on Sunday, March 10, and performances scheduled for this week have already been canceled.