Orchestras began tuning to the oboe, in part, because its sound was more penetrating in a performance setting than gut strings. There were also fewer oboes than violins, and in the earliest orchestras ...

His band is all strung out. A composer has tossed aside the traditional violins and clarinets and assembled an orchestra entirely of guitars. The music man said the all-string ensemble, coming to ...

Meet the bassoon — a double-reed woodwind instrument with rich tones and intricate fingering. Professor Richard Church introduces young learners to the bassoon and the rest of the woodwind family.

Learn about the brass family of instruments — their sounds, mouthpieces and harmonics. Professor Richard Church, conductor of the University of Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra, hosts this exploration of ...

They’ve got the beet. A touring orchestra using instruments entirely of vegetables just earned itself a world record. The Vegetable Orchestra, which only plays instruments that are carved out of ...

In a cheerful rehearsal room at Temple University, a few dozen professional musicians inspect the instruments that they'll be playing to debut an audacious piece of music by a Pulitzer Prize-winning ...