Dr. Luis Dias is a physician, musician, writer, history enthusiast and founder of Child's Play India Foundation www.childsplayindia.org. He blogs at www.luisdias.wordpress.com.
Opinion
I was eight when W. Timothy Gallwey’s ‘The Inner Game of Tennis’ (1974) became a bestseller. Over the years, it became so successful that Gallwey followed it up with the ‘Inner Game’ of everything from golf and skiing to music, work and stress. ‘The Inner Game of Tennis’ is
Features
Four years ago, I wrote a column, ‘Virtuoso of the Sword and the Bow’, celebrating the life and times of a then little-known French-Caribbean composer, the first classical composer of African descent to attain widespread acclaim in European music: Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799). At the time I had
Opinion
I was honoured and privileged to be invited to present a paper at the National Conference on ‘The contributions of the Goan Christian musicians to the musical heritage of Goa’ earlier this month at the Thomas Stephens Konkani Kendra (TSKK) Porvorim, organised jointly by TSKK and the Goa Government Department
News
I’ve written many times about my “summer of ’89.” 1989 was a golden year for me. I became a doctor, which meant that as an intern I was a member of the salaried workforce. I had money to buy every classical music cassette faster than Sinari’s, Magnasound or
Features
I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the recently-concluded ‘In/Of Goa: Souza at 100’ an exhibition of the artworks of the celebrated Goan artist Francis Newton Souza (1924-2002) on the occasion of his birth centenary at Sunaparanta Goa Centre for the Arts. The exhibition aimed “to shed light on the profound influence
Features
I set aside some time this Good Friday to listen to the complete St. John Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Besides being fitting music for that day of the Holy Week, this year marks the 300th anniversary of the work. In Christian music, a Passion is a setting of
Opinion
“American Youth Symphony Announces Permanent Closure” screamed the ‘breaking news’ headline on the Violin Channel newsletter I subscribe. Rubbing my eyes in disbelief, I read further: “Citing financial challenges, the orchestra is ceasing all operations as of March 15, 2024, after almost 60 years.” Due to my interest in music
Features
Suzuki is a household name worldwide for any western music student or teacher. As someone invested in music education, the life of Shinichi Suzuki is endlessly fascinating to me. So I found ‘Suzuki: The Man and his Dream to Teach the Children of the World’ (2022) by Eri Hotta a
Know Your Composer
I usually listen to BBC Radio 3 while I work. Its primary focus is classical music and opera. So the sung music reflects the languages from that world: Italian, German, French, Latin, English, less frequently Spanish or even Russian; but Portuguese is a rare occurrence. So when I heard Portuguese
Music Education
“He’s extremely talented.” “She doesn’t have the talent for singing.” We’ve all heard variants of these comments, even if we haven’t necessarily said them ourselves. The dictionary definition of ‘talent’ is “a natural aptitude or skill.” It implies that one is either born with it or
Know Your Composer
Canadian singer Celine Dion was in the news on account of her recent diagnosis with the crippling rare neurologic condition stiff-person disorder, causing her to cancel future concert tours. I was listening to one of her signature songs, ‘All by Myself’, which was actually written nearly fifty years ago, in
Features
The acclaimed British contemporary cellist Steven Isserlis is also passionate about music education for children. During my England years, much before I became a father myself or was even contemplating beginning a music education charity for children (incidentally, both my son and Child’s Play India Foundation were born the