Shar Music Blog

 Miserere mei Deus secundum magnam misericordiam tuam...

What are we actually hearing when we listen to classical music? In a new series of blog entries, our resident violinist Alberta Barnes will assign our resident writer Joe Chapman (and classical music novice) a work by a famous composer. Joe's letters to…

Each orchestral instrument has a unique personality. Which one is most similar to yours?

Today's post from Nerissa Nields compares exposure to music to exposure to language: for her, and for Suzuki teachers, musical fluency happens for any child with enough practice and exposure. Nerissa, however, also brings up a bigger and more troubling…

As of Wednesday, J.S. Bach would be 327. In honor of his special day, I thought it would be fitting to give homage to one of his greatest works – arguably one of the greatest masterpieces of all time, especially for a stringed instrument – the Chaconne.

One of my favorite bars in Ann Arbor is Old Town Tavern: it's laid-back, unpretentious, and while the food isn't anything to write home about, it's decent bar fare. The drinks are reasonably priced, but not so cheap that you get college students passed…

Alberta Barnes is orignally from Boise, Idaho and began playing the violin at a young age. She continued her study of the violin at Lawrence University and graduated magna cum laude from the Conservatory of Music in 2009 with a degree in violin…