Rocking Rachmaninoff

Rocking Rachmaninoff

By Jeff Maisey Earlier this year, the Virginia Arts Festival celebrated in grand style the 150th birthday of Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff with a series of chamber music concerts featuring the internationally acclaimed Dali Quartet and violinist Tianwa Yang as...
Still Ga Ga Over the Goo Goos

Still Ga Ga Over the Goo Goos

By Jim Morrison For a decade after they formed in Buffalo and before they became radio stars, The Goo Goo Dolls toured in a van, a trio sometimes headlining and sometimes opening for bands like The Gun Club or Motorhead. Their first album, recorded on a $750 budget...
Feast Festively on Beethoven’s Bounty

Feast Festively on Beethoven’s Bounty

(Piano soloist Orli Shaham) By Montague Gammon III The Virginia Symphony opens its 2023-24 Season with a Beethoven Festival whose bounties Music Director and concert conductor Eric Jacobsen twice likened to a “steak dinner with dessert,” a two course musical feast of...
Forward with Humble Pie’s Legacy

Forward with Humble Pie’s Legacy

By Jeff Maisey Back in the early 1970s, Humble Pie was considered one of the best live rock n roll bands to experience as is evident on their “Rockin’ the Fillmore” double-album released in 1971.  The English group was formed by Steve Marriott (vocals, Small Faces)...