Here is Marie Pleyel, the subject of my doctoral dissertation.  One of the most important pianists of her time, the list of people by whom she was surrounded...

I've recorded the music of Jan Ladislav Dussek (1760-1812) and Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826) (available on this website). They have led exceptionally inte...

The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the obj...

In my teens, I wrote a Japanese 4-panel manga for the Japanese-Canadian newspaper, “The New Canadian.” It’s astonishing that the kindly editor allowed such a...

Certain books take me back to specific times in my life. In particular, a good children’s book can move kids in ways that they don’t yet have the ability to ...

Here’s another 10.  In general, these are pulpier, darker. 1. Die Niebelungen: “Siegfrieds Tod (Siegfried’s Death)” and “Kriemhilds Rache (Kriemhild’s Reveng...

Anyone who knows me even a little knows that I am a film geek. If I like a movie, I talk about it, I recommend it, force it upon anyone who would care to lis...