This is my first blog.  Here I am sixty-eight years old just now writing my first blog…. Why do people write blogs?  I suppose it’s because they think they have something to share that others may either learn from or at least be amused by.  Just look at the constant stream on Facebook.  So, what is it that I think others will find interesting about me?  I don’t have a clue but here it is nonetheless.

First, let me give you a thumbnail sketch of my life and where I am am now.  The great passion that has consumed most of my being for as long as I can remember is music. Piano lessons early on, trumpet, clarinet, guitar, saxophone later, composition, conducting, teaching.  All of these were tributaries to the ever constant flow of music.  I have played, conducted, taught and written it.  My wife is a violist.  My best friends are musicians.  So, guess what this blog will focus on.

Example 1.  I am going to fly out to the Aspen Music Festival on Saturday to attend the premiere of a new work of mine titled Random Acts for trumpet and piano.  It is a twenty minute, five movement work written for Kevin Cobb and nine other trumpet players who are part of a consortium that funded the piece and will play the work during the coming season at their chosen venues.  Having been a professional trumpet player, this piece has special meaning to me.  Whenever I write a piece, one of the many results that I desire of the music is that it become a staple of the literature.  I want my music to be played, to be shared with other musicians and the audience.  So, my hope come Monday is that a new piece of mine is favorably received by the general audience and the inevitable musicians (Aspen is both a music festival with concerts open to the public and school with musicians from all over the world).  

So, as these blogs progress, they will offer first hand experiences of a 21st Century composer of serious/classical/concert music (what do they call it these days?).  I will do my best to consider the reader and not just make this a self serving diary.  Until next time…