Welcome to the Ziring Music Page

This page is barely started, and is still very much under construction.

This web page provides some links to Web resources about our favorite composers, bands, and musical instruments. Each of the sections below contains its own list of links to WWW resources.

• Instruments we play
• Classical Composers & Orchestras
• Rock bands
• Radio Stations
• Computers & Music
• Other Web Resources

Instruments We Play

Julie plays piano. Our piano is a Kohler & Campbell studio upright made in the US. Julie likes to play Beethoven, Mozart, and other classical compositions, as well as popular movie and show tunes.

Neal plays classical guitar, rather badly. His classical guitar is a Horabe model 35, made in Japan. He takes lessons from David Gorrie, a classical and jazz guitarist who studied at the Peabody Conservatory.

Classical Composers & Orchestras

Both of us are big fans of classical music. Listed below are some of our favorite composers and orchestras, with links to info about them on the web.

The National Symphony Orchestra

Leonard Slatkin is the director of the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO). The NSO performs mainly at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in Washington DC. The National Symphony recently won its first Grammy Award.

 

The Baltimore Symphony

Housed in the beautiful Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is one of the leading cultural institutions in the city. They are led by music director David Zinman. The BSO web site even offers sound samples of the orchestra playing.

 

The St. Louis Symphony

One of the greatest orchestras in America, the St. Louis Symphony was led by Leonard Slatkin for many years. It offers half-price season tickets for students! The web site is quite spiffy, and comprehensive.

 
Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Julie's favorite composer is the famous Viennese master. Her favorite work by him is the famous Symphony No. 6 (Pastoral). There are lots of Beethoven resources on the web; try the Altus Design Beethoven Site.
 
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Neal's favorite composer is old Bach, the famous german baroque composer. There are a few Bach pages on the web, one of the best of them is the J.S. Bach Home Page.
 
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Johannes Brahmes wrote a few of the best symphonies and concertos in the 19th century. He was very under-confident about many of his works, and spent many months polishing some of them.
 
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
A child prodigy, a prolific genius, and possibly the greatest composer who ever lived, Mozart is well represented on the Web, start with the W.A. Mozart Page. Our favorite Mozart opera is The Magic Flute, and our favorite symphony of his is the Symphony No. 40 in Gm K550.
 
Antonin Dvorák (1841-1904)
Probably the best-known composer ever to come from Czechoslovakia, A.J.A. Dvorak wrote many fine symphonies and concertos. We particularly like his 8th Symphony. There aren't many pages about Dvorák on the web, but try ChefJeff's Dvorak Page.

Rock Bands

Here is a list of some rock musicians and groups we like, along with links to web pages about them.

QUEEN

Julie's favorite band, recording together from 1973-1992. Members: Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon, and the late Freddie Mercury. The greatest rock song of all time "Bohemian Rhapsody" is from their album A Night at the Opera. Queen recorded for Hollywood Records.

The Beatles

The Fab 4 - probably the most influential and popular band in popular music history. Members: Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.

Led Zeppelin

This classic rock band began recording in 1969. Members: Roger Plant, Jimmy Page, John-Paul Jones, and the late John Bonham. Their song "Stairway to Heaven" is considered by many to be a defining song for its genre. Julie and I particularly like their song "Kashmir".

R.E.M.

This band records cool records with a distinctive style. Their latest album is called New Adventures in Hi-Fi. Members are Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe. Many of their songs have really cool and creative lyrics.

more here later...

Radio Stations

Here are the radio stations we listen to:

Radio Station Name and Location	Frequency/ Band	Format and Description
WETA Washington National Public Radio	90.9 FM	Classical music and news (no commercials!)
WBJC Baltimore	91.5 FM	Classical music
WOCT Baltimore "The Colt"	104.3 FM	Classic rock "All the Hits of the 70s"
WWDC Washington DC 101	101.1 FM	Adult Rock? "DC's leading rock station"
WGMS Washington	103.5 FM	Classical music "Washington's Classical Station"

Recently, we each had to keep a radio listening diary, as part of the official Arbitron radio ratings. Apparently, radio stations get ratings based on listenership, and this affects how they attract advertisers. Learn more about radio and web ratings from Arbitron, Inc.

Computers and Music

A good computer can be a very helpful tool in the study and enjoyment of music. Here are some computer music topics:

Other Web Resources

 Music Boulevard
This site claims to be "The Ultimate On-line Music Experience." It is pretty comprehensive, too, with associated sites just for rock, jazz, and classical music. The rock area has a fairly hip personality test.

 Harmony Central - Resources for Musicians
Great site for professional and amateur musicians, with information on equipment, techniques, magazines, etc.

Nordic Downloadable Music Site
Neat music web site, uses Cybercash to allow on-line purchases. Not too big yet, but growing fast.

 Candlelight Concert Society
This is the small home page of a Howard County chamber music society that sponsors a local concert series every year. We attend a few of their concerts each year.

 Worldwide Internet Live Music Archive (WILMA)
This web site has very extensive information on live concerts and a handy search service, as well as band profiles, contests, and web postcards.

  Tunes
This record store web site allows you to listen to soundbites from a broad range of musical styles on-line. Also supports on-line purchases.

  Cleveland Rock&Roll Hall of Fame
Informative museum site, with information on new inductees for 1997. Also has mini-biographies sound files for most of the hall-of-famers.

  MTV Online
Web site of Music Television, spiffy images and music industry news.

 Cybrewolf's Music Page
Some good MIDI files and good links, plus page loads pretty fast.