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He's a Violinist for the NBA -- And He's Only 13

Giovanni Mazza performs at halftime during a Golden State Warriors game
Giovanni Mazza performs at halftime during a Golden State Warriors game

It's Friday! Live a little. Here are 7 classical music stories we loved this week.

1. Legendary pianist Gary Graffman recently turned 90. The guest list for his birthday party included Lang Lang, Leon Fleisher, Emanuel Ax, and, lucky for us, the New York Times.

2. Google's latest tech venture has nothing to do with smartphones or self-driving cars. Instead, the "Piano Genie" gives users the power to make music -- with just eight buttons.

3. Composer Nico Muhly describes the weeks leading up to his opera Marnie's American premiere at the Met.

4. A Swedish performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 5 ended in an all-out brawl after one concertgoer threw his neighbor's packet of gum to the floor because its rustling was distracting him. A spokesperson for the orchestra was asked if future concerts might lead to similar incidents, and her response was really, really solid: 

"Possibly Verdi's Requiem on 1 and 2 November could be a high-risk concert actually," she said. "Extremely powerful, will awaken strong feelings..."

If I lived in Sweden, I'd be there in a heartbeat.

5. An oldie, but a goodie: Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" dance syncs up perfectly to Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1hpRwha0qs&feature=youtu.be

And while we're on the subject:

6. The Houston Chronicle shows us what a conductor does, exactly, in this lovely profile of Andrés Orozco-Estrada, conductor of the Houston Symphony.

7. Giovanni Mazza is in his fourth year of playing violin for the NBA -- and he's just 13 years old. Here's how he did it.

Kendall Todd is the Content Manager for GBH Music.