The Irish seem born with a love of music. At social gatherings, everyone’s always ready to sing his or her “party piece.” Performances are judged less by skill than by uninhibited sincerity or showmanship. Nearly every Irish household has some kind of musical instrument. That love is especially strong for traditional Irish music. You can…

By Jerry Zezima Tribune News ServiceTribune News Service When I think of the legendary concerts in music history — the Beatles at Shea Stadium in New York City; Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and other rock giants at Woodstock; me as the guest triangle player for the Stamford Symphony Orchestra — the one I remember as the…

A former concert cellist returned to a long-time love of photography during the pandemic, using new camera lens technology to explore musical instruments like never before. His compelling photos of instruments’ interiors are at once close-up and labyrinthine, giving us a peek into a world of vast, secret spaces. Charles Brooks, 43, has been a…

My work as a composer has taken me with some regularity to New York City, and each time I’ve had a bucket list of things I’ve either always wanted to do or wanted to do again during my free time there. One of those “do agains” has been to visit the huge Metropolitan Museum of…