David Patrick Stearns

The acclaimed Maria Joao Pires announced that she will retire in 2014. The Philadelphia Inquirer's  David Patrick Stearns profiles the demure but exquisite Portuguese pianist.

David Patrick Stearns profiles American cellist Alisa Weilerstein. She’s in town to perform the iconic Elgar cello concerto with The Philadelphia Orchestra this week.

If anybody knows Rachmaninoff, it’s The Philadelphia Orchestra. The ensemble inspired the composer  to write his final orchestral work: the Symphonic Dances, and collaborated with him intensively until his death in 1943. Since then, the Orchestra has maintained an unbroken tradition of performing works by Rachmaninoff, from the eras of Eugene Ormandy through Charles Dutoit. 

The esteemed Italian conductor Gianandrea Noseda, who has the trust and affection of the musicians from past guest engagements, recently conducted Rachmaninoff at the Kimmel Center. The conductor brought to these performances the rediscovery of a sound from which the orchestra has perhaps drifted. As The Philadelphia Inquirer’s David Patrick Stearns reports, Noseda may just about be out-Ormandying Eugene Ormandy.

The Philadelphia Inquirer's ’s David Patrick Stearns profiles Seymour Lipkin, a pianist who - in his mid 80s -  is taking on Beethoven's massive Hammerklavier sonata, among other daunting musical feats.

A video of Mr. Lipkin playing Mozart:

The Philadelphia Inquirer's David Patrick Stearns explores how Norristown is successfully modeling itself as a serious theater destination.

The Mendelssohn Club Chorus, the Philadelphia Boys Choir, and The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia are set to perform at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in a very special concert that includes the world premiere of Robert Moran’s expanded - and haunting - 9/11 tribute, Trinity Requiem.

The Philadelphia Inquirer's David Patrick Stearns looks ahead to the October 21st event, that also features Bruckner's Mass in E minor and Moran's Angele Dei.

After pianist Jeffrey Siegel's annual series of Philadelphia concerts was canceled, a community of music lovers got together to reinstate his regular Kimmel Center performances. The Philadelphia Inquirer's David Patrick Stearns tells the story.

Those funky, menacing chords can only belong to one piece of music: West Side Story, the Leonard Bernstein Broadway musical that updated the Romeo and Juliet story into the world of gang warfare to the streets of post-war New York City. The concert suite from the musical has often been played by The Philadelphia Orchestra, though this week it's performing the music in a different incarnation - as an accompaniment to the 1961 Oscar-winning film. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s David Patrick Stearns reports that the enterprise isn’t nearly as simple as it looks.