Jennifer Gersten

What's the story behind several famous piano pieces for the left hand?

The Theremin is turning 100! Jennifer Gersten celebrates the electronic instrument's history.

What it means when Well-Tempered Clavier becomes acoustic barbed wire for storefronts. 

Read about some of the eclectic deals musical celebrities have inked over the years.

This year’s wisdom from hardened musicians to graduates on how best to navigate their futures.

The Pyeongchang Olympics displayed virtuosity at every turn, leap, and lutz — and that bravura wasn’t limited to the athletics: The music of the Games delivered its share of feats, too. 

For certain music enthusiasts, of all concert souvenirs, the bootleg recording is the most covetable. Jennifer Gersten traces the impact of unauthorized recordings in classical music.

On Wednewday, Feb. 7, WQXR broadcasts Joshua Bell and Jeremy Denk’s Carnegie Hall recital. Their musical camaraderie got us thinking about some of music’s other great violin-piano duos.

The great composers of classical music celebrated Christmas just like us. Here are some classical tales of Christmas past.

Jennifer Gersten examines the musicality of sirens from around the world.

Beethoven was the first composer to give his pieces metronome markings, and even pledged to do away with indicating such indefinite tempi as “allegretto.” 

Jennifer Gersten shares four pieces of music that were written intentionally to be near impossible to play.

Jennifer Gersten examines the history of the toy piano.

Jennifer Gersten writes about the history of gut strings for instruments.

Jennifer Gersten interviews musicologist Alan Pollack about the Beatles seminal work “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and its classical arrangements.

Mostly composed in the 20th century, traditional circus music draws from rags, waltzes, marches and other dance accompaniments.

Jennifer Gersten was in attendance at the New York Philharmonic concert in 2012 when the so-called 'Ringtone Incident' occured. She shares her memories of the experience.

The story behind Muzak's use of pseudo-science to influence consumers and workers and how its empire collapsed.

Electronic musical instrument founder Robert Moog believed that electronic music posed no threat to preexisting musical forms like the symphony. In fact, he saw it as complementary.

The musical duo is a relationship like any other. Here are 8 videos of unusual duets that will entertain you.