In 1821, Wolfgang Amadé Mozart reflects on his brushes with death, including the one that nearly killed him in 1791. Now settled into a sylvan old age in America with his wife, two sons, and grandchildren, the world-famous composer gives testament to his life and career.In the thirty years of extra time he was granted, he not only wrote more operas—including one that changed the course of history—but also he engaged with key people of his times: composers like Haydn and Beethoven, ...

Artists today are at a crossroads. With funding for the arts and humanities endowments perpetually under attack, and school districts all over the United States scrapping their art curricula altogether, the place of the arts in our civic future is uncertain to say the least. At the same time, faced with the problems of the modern world—from water shortages and grave health concerns to global climate change and the now constant threat of terrorism—one might question the urgency of this wani...

Joey was one of the most accomplished pianists in the world during classical music’s last grand heyday at the end of the 20th century. He lived a luxurious life, and his performances in the great concert halls were globally televised. He was known even to people who do not follow music. But at the height of his career, before age 50, he suddenly and without explanation retired from playing. This set off a chain of press speculation as to why this consummate artist fell silent.Joey’...

From her modest home surrounded by great old trees in the small river town of Ophelia, Indiana, Birdie hears the language of the birds and believes they are talking to her. Whatever they are trying to communicate increases in intensity over her life. Born in 1900, for many years she works in the local telephone exchange and so is privy to conversations—and secrets—in Ophelia. But when she says the birds have told her something, the townspeople do not believe her; they just assume she mishe...

A collection of sonnets by the Artistic and Music Director of the Houston Grand opera, who set himself the discipline of composing one sonnet every Sunday for one year. Each sonnet—a fourteen-line verse form in specific meter and rhyming schemes—captures the uniqueness of that week, at the same time expressing broader and more universal thoughts about our shared experience in the first quarter of the twenty-first century.

In 1821, Wolfgang Amadé Mozart reflects on his brushes with death, including the one that nearly killed him in 1791. Now settled into a sylvan old age in America with his wife, two sons, and grandchildren, the world-famous composer gives testament to his life and career.In the thirty years of extra time he was granted, he not only wrote more operas—including one that changed the course of history—but also he engaged with key people of his times: composers like Haydn and Beethoven, ...

Joey was one of the most accomplished pianists in the world during classical music's last grand heyday at the end of the 20th century. He lived a luxurious life, and his performances in the great concert halls were globally televised. He was known even to people who do not follow music. But at the height of his career, before age 50, he suddenly and without explanation retired from playing. This set off a chain of press speculation as to why this consummate artist fell silent.Joey'...

Many people are burdened with too much unoccupied time, and they quickly fall into anxiety, loneliness, and all kinds of frustrating behaviors. I am the opposite: I feel the constant pull of never having time to either do or reflect upon doing, and I obsess and worry more about time than any other aspect of living. Though it shouldn't, time imprisons me except when I'm writing. These poems combine various strands of my heart's passions: music, travel, lost loves, the almosts, moments froze...

Through 50 personal essays, maestro Patrick Summers has woven a tapestry showcasing opera's many threads and colors across the centuries into today.It might seem strange to think in terms of fabric art to describe musical performance art, but this collection shows how many different arts comprise the whole. The author has devoted his career to opera, so he understands not only backstage logistics and onstage glory but the myriad connections in between.His stories include pr...

They say you can never go home again. And sometimes, you shouldn't.Following a semi-successful career as a teen model in New York City, Danielle Greer has moved back to the mountains of North Georgia and is living in her childhood home with her husband and four daughters. One stifling, lazy afternoon, the girls are exploring the ravine behind the house when they come across a body.Danielle knows the body doesn't belong to Benji Law, a younger local misfit w...

Stay away from mages.It was a singular phrase my father had ingrained in me from the time of my birth. Sorry, Dad. I have a feeling that is going to be a problem.You have to understand… my life has been bland at best. Everything in my life, every single day, has been scripted, organized, and neat. Calm, cool, and collected. The problem? It wasn't real. I wasn't like the other witches in my father's coven. I had a chaotic storm growing inside of me, and the ...

Did we need to hold a Halloween party?No, of course not. Was I going to anyway? You better freakin' believe it. I didn't even feel bad! We needed a break! Even if it was for a day, a healthy work-life balance was essential… even if it was holding a bloody Halloween party and the work was determining who was sucking the magic out of people like goddamn juice boxes. Except, my relaxed plans don't go exactly as I thought… Instead, I am left with a shredded costume, a ...