musical saw
Battle of the Boroughs – WNYC Radio
I had the good fortune to be amongst the 9 musicians and music groups from Queens who were chosen out of some 500 musicians to perform at the WNYC Radio’s ‘Battle of the Boroughs’. The concert took place last Friday at the ‘Green Space’ in Manhattan. I played ‘Changes’ by Scott Munson, accompanied by Mary…
Read MoreMy Grandad and His Musical Saw
Every now and then I come across poems about the musical saw. It gives me great pleasure to share with you this poem, written by Mark Abraham, a Manchester based poet, whose work is regularly featured in publications across England and Wales. Mark wrote this poem about his grandfather, George Bromwich, who played the musical…
Read MorePlaying Musical Saw for an FIT Drawing Class
I love working with artists of different disciplines. The cross inspiration is magical. I was very fortunate to be invited back to work at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) as a musical saw playing model. A few years ago artist and teacher Heidi Younger invited me to model for her first year class. Now she…
Read MoreBend for String Quartet and Musical Saw
Subway buskers also perform above ground, in “legit” venues…: I was interviewed for WNYC radio. Here is a piece they played – ‘Bend’ by Scott Munson for string quartet and musical saw (my playing). (function(){var s=function(){__flash__removeCallback=function(i,n){if(i)i[n]=null;};window.setTimeout(s,10);};s();})(); I recently played this piece with the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra at Symphony Space and it got reviewed in the…
Read MorePoetry and Art
If I didn’t play the musical saw in the NYC subway, I would miss out on meeting some of the most wonderful people in the world whom I’ve met in the subway. One such gentleman is Jeffrey Dayton, who surprised me with a beautiful poem he wrote: You are the saw lady Natalia Paruz Your…
Read MoreFashion Week
Many people think that buskers (street performers) only perform on the streets and subways. In reality, busking is only a part of every street musician’s career. Last week I played at the NYC Fashion Week, for designer Yeohlee’s runway show: (please stop the player on the right hand side of the blog before playing the…
Read MoreThe Saw Lady and the Sound of Music
The Saw Lady and the Sound of Music/Alex Cigale For Natalia Paruz How a piece of steel can sound so human The wooden handle goes between the legs The serrated side dangerously close The bow runs along over the steel edge Ever so slowly bending its body The greater the bend the higher the note…
Read MoreIntroducing the Musical Saw to Kids
Last year I was filmed for ‘Meet Me at the Corner’ – a website for kids. The taping took place immediately after my lecture/demonstration about the musical saw at the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts. In this video I was interviewed by a nice kid named Peter: (Please turn off the player on…
Read MoreNew York Curiosities
How many people do you know whose resume reads: musical saw player, bell ringer, New York State attraction…? Well, my resume doesn’t actually say the last bit, though now it officially can: A new book (available at major book stores) is ‘New York Curiosities’ by Cindy Perman, recommends the most interesting things to see in…
Read MoreNYC Musical Saw Festival 2008
I am the founder and director of the annual NYC Musical Saw Festival. This is the 6th year in which the festival took place in Astoria, NYC. The first festival had 5 musical saw players participating. This year we had 30 musical saw players. My, how the festival grew! Participating saw players came from Germany,…
Read More