...try, try again. A cliche, to be sure, but one which apparently serves Joshua Bell well.
 "I completely stopped. I turned to the audience and said, âIâd really like to start over.â?
I have only rarely seen a musician or ensemble restart a piece or a movement. Unless things completely fall apart, you're not likely to see that. Joshua Bell said it was both highly embarrassing, AND highly freeing. Read Joshua Bell on Messing Up his First Violin Competition (Newsweek) Watch Joshua Bell and Jeremy Denk discuss their new recording French Impressions here
 A Tsunami Never Sounded so Sweet
To mark the recent 1st anniversary of the tsunami and earthquake in Japan, one instrument maker found a way to pull sweet music out of the disaster's debris. Read Japanese Craftsman Muneyuki Nakazawa Makes 2 Violins from Tsunami Driftwood (Japan Today)
Golijov Misses Another Musical Deadline
Osvoldo Golijov, a celebrated composer who is under intense scrutiny because of plagiarism accusations, has missed a second deadline for the completion of a new violin concerto. It was cancelled once in 2011 when the Los Angeles Philharmonic was forced to drop it from their season. It was rescheduled for May, only to be cancelled again. A string quartet slated for it's Carnegie Hall premiere last Spring suffered the same fate. Is Golijov in the midst of a massive case of writers block, or is he just spread too thin? Read L'affair Golijov (Washington Post)