News to start your week!

The WQXR blog talks with JoAnn Falletta, conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic and Virginia Symphony, about why it seems that professional orchestras actually play behind the conducted beat.  Read more here.

In more conducting news, NPR’s Scott Simon sat in on a conducting class at The Peabody Institute taught by Marin Alsop.  Read here, or listen below, about his experience, and the great conversation he had with Alsop.  It’s worth following the link for a great video of Simon taking a turn with the baton!

A scientist in the UK is turning the sounds of heartbeats – more specifically, of arrhythmias – into music to use as a diagnostic tool.  Elaine Chew is a professor of Digital Media at Queen Mary University in London.  Read more about her work here.

And don’t miss our own blog with Tim Diovanni’s report on the conference, American Women-Composer-Pianists!

What did we miss?  What are you reading?  Let us know!