To the Editor: Re “Is Music the Key to Success?,” by Joanne Lipman (Sunday Review, Oct. 13): Two aspects of music may contribute to “success.” First, music students always strive to conquer something just out of reach. The satisfaction of mastering a difficult étude is short-lived; then it’s on to a new, slightly too hard […]

Any type of music that can make you feel closer to God is divine – even if it is for a split second, that moment becomes special. As Sri Sathya Sai Baba puts it “Happiness is union with God”.  I had the opportunity to listen to one of the concerts of Smt. Bhavadharini Anantharaman. The […]

By JOANNE LIPMAN CONDOLEEZZA RICE trained to be a concert pianist. Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, was a professional clarinet and saxophone player. The hedge fund billionaire Bruce Kovner is a pianist who took classes at Juilliard. Multiple studies link music study to academic achievement. But what is it about serious music […]

Experiencing and even anticipating thrilling music releases the neurotransmitter dopamine, a “pleasure” chemical in the brain that is linked to tangible rewards like food, drugs and sex, said scientists from Canada who measured dopamine response to music and found the more “chills” or “frisson” the music elicits, even in the anticipation phase, the more dopamine […]

Lalgudi Jayaraman’s grand-daughter-disciple SAMYUKTHA KRISHNAN remembers … “Lalgudi Thatha. That’s how I addressed this Colossus of music at home. He was my grandfather, but first and foremost, he was my Guru. Nearly every second spent with him was a ‘music moment’. This is because his all-consuming love for his art made him play, sing, discuss and […]