Rachel Cohen Contributing Editor

Articles

• Bell's violin rings through Heinz Hall

  Heinz Hall was near full capacity on Saturday night — and no wonder: The program boasted violinist Joshua Bell, who is about as close to a rock star as it gets in the classical music world. Bell’s performance was spectacular, of course — but his was only one of several performances that made Saturday’s program especially fantastic.

  Pillbox | April 15, 2013
• The annual wats:ON? festival makes a ruckus in the College of Fine Arts

  “Noise continually surrounds us, from white static to violent intensity,” reads the program for this year’s wats:ON? festival. “Noise asks you to surrender to the possibility of the rush of the sublime.”

  Pillbox | April 8, 2013
• CMOA shows intricate prints

  Tucked away in a side gallery on the second floor, Japan Is the Key… is a small and seemingly nondescript new exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Art. The exhibit, which opened last Saturday, features Japanese color woodblock prints, watercolors, and ivory figurines made in the first half of the 19th century.

  Pillbox | April 1, 2013
• Vocalists perform vibrant show

  When we think of opera, we usually picture a large soprano in a Viking helmet belting a high, quavering note. It’s perhaps not the most flattering image, and, unfortunately, many people have negative associations with opera as a genre. But the School of Music’s performance of Lovers & Dreams: An Opera Scenes Showcase last Thursday and Friday showed that, far from being boring or inaccessible, op...

  Pillbox | March 25, 2013
• Student compositions shine in concert

  “I want it to smack you in the face,” said senior music composition major Adam Shield, speaking of his modernism-inspired music. “I want to force you to remember it.”

  Pillbox | February 25, 2013