Or how a smart-thinking South Australian education initiative fell at the first fence thanks to small-minded union mentality.

Properly given, and equally well-received, a kind word can change a day from cloudy with scattered showers to full sun.

They’re hell to practise, but given a touch of magic by a genius composer, scales can take us on a beautiful journey.

For this ‘composer’, the act of operatic creation is a case of stitching together the mouldering body parts of the greats. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

One maestro pays tribute to another, recalling a friend, a mentor and one of the true giants of the Australian music scene. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

When it comes to bel canto, might a microphone or two might help it come over a little more ‘con belto’? Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Starving for your art is one thing, but what’s a wannabe Diva to do when life begins to dangerously imitate opera?

It may be many people’s favourite musical, but some duff plot points means West Side Story ain’t no Romeo and Juliet.

Or should Malcolm Turnbull look to music schools if he values ideas on audiation and psycho-active emergent relationships?

Is a conductor akin to a god? Some reflections on intelligent design lead inexorably from the Deity to Herbert von Karajan.

From coffee machines to Cage, from jaywalking to joyrides, for one maestro, it’s a mad, mad, mad, mad musical world.

Everyone has an opinion on everything these days, and social media is making it all to easy to sound off.