There are many conversations that go on between an instrumentalist and their instrument. For the oboist and the oboe, a good face in public masks constant bickering and drama behind the scenes.

With the news of her death over the weekend, I found myself watching clips of Shirley Verrett on YouTube yesterday. Sadly, I never saw her perform on the opera stage. But, thanks to YouTube, I was able to get a sense of just how fabulous she was. I was absolutely blown away by what I saw. Her Delilah was to die for. And this from a woman who was known to be quite shy! Amazing. I’m still moved as I think about it this morning.

My elementary school required that its students sing in the school choir or play an instrument. I chose trumpet. It was loud, shiny and, I thought, how difficult could it be?

If you’re running the New York City Marathon this Sunday, what classical music will be on your iPod? Or if you’re strictly a spectator, what classical selections would you suggest? Tell us and listen to this week's Arts File.

Midge Woolsey asks: Did you play in a marching band? Do you still play today? And, what makes being in one so much fun anyway? And are they different than they were – say – 20 or 30 years ago?

"No one seems exactly sure who turned that phrase about the oboe, but it does seem to have happened long before my assault on the instrument," says our Naomi Lewin.

What’s the scariest piece of music you know? In celebration of Halloween, our Jeff Spurgeon thinks it's the perfect occasion to ask.

One of today's most respected Puccini sopranos, Patricia Racette tells Midge Woolsey about her ecclectic career that spans verismo to cabaret. And she reveals why she identifies with "complicated, conflicted" characters.

In founding the ISSUE Project Room in a former East Village garage in 2001, the late Suzanne Fiol aimed to cultivate a “Carnegie Hall for the avant-garde.”

In the age of HD broadcasts, svelte opera singers are increasingly commonplace. But Midge Woolsey wonders whether size really matters. And if so, should it matter more than vocal ability?

What touch! Pianist Garrick Ohlsson had an eloquent dialogue tonight with his instrument, with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and with all of us listening to his Carnegie Hall performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4. Ohlsson's fingers on the keyboard managed precise intricacies, each note articulated clearly, but I was so impressed with the way all notes integrated into a vivid, thrilling whole.

I'm curious to know about your memorable CD gift giving and/or receiving moments. What was the CD and why was it a successful gift? Was it romantic? Great music for dinnertime?

Last weekend I had the pleasure of recording an in-studio performance by composer Van Dyke Parks, which will broadcast on my WNYC show Spinning On Air this Sunday evening at 8 pm. My first exposure to Parks's work was when I heard The Beach Boys song “Heroes and Villains” on the radio while a kid back in the 1960s. Parks wrote the lyrics for that song, and subsequently worked on The Beach Boys’ “Smile” and his own 1968 album “Song Cycle,” and many projects since. Back when I first heard his music I knew it was new, exciting, and different, but I probably didn’t recognize that it was such an effective, natural blend of folk, pop, and classical influences.

Kraft has finally come to New York, carrying with it the local, found-object flavor that composer Magnus Lindberg requires when installing this legacy-defining piece.

On Thursday morning, composer Magnus Lindberg and the New York Philharmonic held the final rehearsal before the New York premiere of his 1985 industrial work Kraft. That piece features an arsenal of noise-making instruments augmented by various found objects, including scrap metal, an oxygen tank and other junk, all of which were picked up from a Staten Island junkyard.

I’ve been distracted at concerts lately. And a surprising blog post got me thinking about live performances, and about what is demanded of us by the idea of truly listening to music.

If there is an audience for it, what difference does it make if a classical artist decides to cross over into the world of popular music every once in a while? I’ll grant you that it suits some singers better than others, but I really don’t see the harm in it. And, if a few more people get turned on to classical music along the way, why not?

I went to high school in Milwaukee, and I’ve been to junkyards, looking for cheap tires for my rusty old car. And those were amazing junkyards… I mean for miles. But I’ve never gone searching for instruments before! 

Up until a few weeks ago, you'd hear a generous amount of recordings from pianist and conductor Mikhail Pletnev. But now that Pletnev is under investigation for child rape in Thailand his voice has been silenced in concert halls and on the radio – in the U.S. and U.K that is. But back home in Russia, and elsewhere his beat marches on. Pletnev founded the Russian National Orchestra 20 years ago and its season kicked off this month as planned with Pletnev on the podium. 

On a sweltering Friday afternoon, a group of musicians including the Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg piled into a van bound for a Staten Island junkyard. Their task? To find ingredients for the composer's 1985 work, Kraft.