Program notes for Carnegie Hall's October 6th, 2011 concert featuring the Mariinsky Orchestra. 

"This year’s Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston struck a decidedly bittersweet note: It was the swan song of Joseph Flummerfelt, the choral heartbeat of the festival in both Italy and Charleston since 1971 and the last of the original Spoleto team. His finale on June 6 was a soaring Verdi Requiem, one of his signature pieces."

"The music for Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo," which turned 50 this week, is widely regarded as the cinema's greatest score. The film itself, which tells the story of detective Scottie Ferguson's fear of heights and its terrible consequence in the deaths of a colleague and a woman who passionately loves him, was a dismal flop when it was released."

"Since 1990 I have been leading students on an annual jazz trip to New Orleans for a three-credit American-studies course. Before the ravages of Hurricane Katrina, that was an unambiguous joy. Spending time in New Orleans takes students directly to the heartbeat of American musical culture."