Ida Haendel a woman who defies age. Today, she says, she has more to offer as an artist than ever before. "Flamboyant" is the word that first comes to mind when you meet the legendary violinist, Ida Haendel. In her turquoise pantaloons, rose-patterned high heels, white knit sweater and extravagant jewellery, she conducts one of her rare master classes. "I don't want to teach, I don't want to tell anybody else how they should play," she says when asked about the lessons. Yet for the duration of the class, Haendel manages to inspire, impress and encourage a group of some of the world's most talented young violinists.
She uses Greta Garbo to make a point about how a crucial passage in César Franck's violin sonata should sound: "Greta Garbo would only give a sigh, and everyone around her would collapse from the power of its hushed meaning," she says. Then she takes a student's violin and plays the passage, proving her argument in sound, adding: "You give everything too soon, but less is more. It's about control and what comes next. Everything is a strategy, like a general preparing for war."

Mrs. Brodsky is the founder, director and chief artistic advisor of Patrons of Exceptional Artists, Inc. a foundation dedicated to the support of exceptionally gifted performing artists. She is also the co-founder and artistic director of the Miami International Piano Festival, where she oversees all music events. Her track record for finding and presenting exceptional artists has been impressive and she is widely recognized as an authority figure in the field of classical musical. Most of the artists discovered and presented at the Miami International Piano Festival are today enjoying successful careers. In the past few years she has been interviewed and featured in several articles that have appeared in prestigious publications such as the New York Times, Piano Today, International Piano Magazine, the Miami Herald, and Steinway Magazine.Mrs. Brodsky is committed to the promotion of classical music and oversees the educational activities of the Festival. She has pioneered the "Prodigies and Masters of Tomorrow"series as part of the Festival which has resulted in the production of a documentary that was aired on PBS television. This forward-thinking program has reached hundreds of school children through collaborations with the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. Her collaboration with Rod Williams, the brilliant producer of this documentary will hopefully result in the co production with the BBC of a new documentary, "The Ivory & the Ecstasy".