Peter Dobrin

2 weeks ago | inquirer.com | Peter Dobrin

At the Library of Congress earlier this month, Roberto Díaz was playing on an exceedingly rare viola. What didn’t cross his mind, he says, is just how much the hunk of maple and spruce clutched beneath his chin was worth. Which is perhaps a good thing. The Tuscan-Medici viola from the workshop of Antonio Stradivari was recently valued at $30 million, likely making it the most expensive musical instrument in the world.

2 weeks ago | inquirer.com | Peter Dobrin

Actress and singer Cynthia Erivo, the rapper Nas, a return of Star Wars, and a night celebrating the Eagles championship season are all part of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s lineup at the Mann Center this summer. Two all-classical concerts are also scheduled, each with significant artist debuts. But most of the programming with orchestra features nonclassical fare as the Mann tries to maintain an orchestral presence while countering a decline in a classical audience for the venue.

2 weeks ago | inquirer.com | Peter Dobrin

Calder Gardens has an opening date. Philadelphia’s long-sought shrine to sculptor Alexander Calder will open its doors to the public Sept. 21, officials announced Tuesday, along with details of a membership program. The sculpture park promises to add to the first new major attraction to the cultural critical mass of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway since the relocation of the Barnes Foundation in 2012.

2 weeks ago | inquirer.com | Peter Dobrin

A South Philadelphian with deep ties to the Curtis Institute of Music has been appointed concertmaster of one of the top orchestras in the world. Joel Link, first violinist of the Curtis-based Dover Quartet, was named to the post by Cleveland Orchestra music director Franz Welser-Möst on Thursday. Link is both a graduate of Curtis and a faculty member at the prestigious music conservatory on Rittenhouse Square. The violinist, 36, said he hadn’t been seeking a new job.

3 weeks ago | inquirer.com | Peter Dobrin

Imagine yourself in a house, and as you move through its rooms, you hear a series of pianists: Thelonious Monk, Jelly Roll Morton, Nina Simone, and on and on. Courtney Bryan did just that. The composer and pianist conjured the scene and set it to music in House of Pianos, a piano concerto being performed Sunday by Network for New Music with Bryan as soloist.