Somehow, even before I was old enough to understand that music didn't
just fall down to us from the sky, that it came from the pens of
creative grown-ups, I knew that I wanted to be a part of the wonderful
and magical phenomenon called "music."
My parents exposed me to good music early on and demonstrated that it
could be played, not just on the radio, but also on instruments. My
father loved playing the accordion and it fascinated me to watch him
and listen. He was also skilled on the violin. Surely, it could be
argued that his musical abilities were largely responsible for my being here, as they had earned
him preferential treatment during his captivity in European WWII
internment camps.
My mother played the mandolin and sang. She actually sang with her
sister on the radio back in the '50s. She also sang for many years in
church and community choirs. My mother was the primary spiritual guide
in my life and this led me to want to use the musical talents God gave
me in His service.
At sixteen I started composing in earnest, refining the skill years
later in college. In the meantime, I convinced the organist at my
church in Brunswick, OH to give me organ lessons. By this time, I had
already been performing in church on the trombone and trumpet. My
desire to learn keyboard was actually a selfish one. It wasn't that I
aspired to be an organist. I just wanted keyboard skills to help
facilitate the process of composing -- it was hard to play more than
one note at a time on the trombone! She consented as long as I would be
willing to learn the Lutheran liturgy and play church services, which I
was. Two years later, to my
teacher's dismay, I moved to Colorado Springs with my parents. I had
just graduated from college with an electrical engineering degree.
After arriving in the Springs in 1978, I experienced three major
events: landing a job at Ampex Corp., finding a church that needed an
organist, and getting married. Since then, I've changed jobs
a few times, but I've held on to the same woman and I still play at the
same church. My wonderful wife Darlene has been my constant companion
since 1980, not only in life, but also in the musical activities of our
church, Rock of Ages Lutheran,
where she often directs the choir.
I had written music prior to my move to Colorado that was publicly
performed, but now that I had a regular outlet available to me, I
really got busy composing music for organ, choir, and the occasional
instrumental duet. In 1995 I created a new outlet to test my mettle as
a composer/arranger when I founded Rhythm of the Rock -- an
instrumental ensemble. Thanks to the Finale notation software I had
learned the year before, I was able to generate the ensemble's entire
repertoire for the 5 years of its existence. Reciprocally, the
musicians constantly inspired me to experiment with this medium.
In the early '90s, after many rejections, I finally landed a contract
to have some of my organ preludes published. Other contracts from the
same company, and three others, followed over the years. Going into a
music store and finding your composition in the sheet music bin is a
bit of an ego trip, even if it happens to be on clearance! Today, with
the internet
dominating the way we share various media, the traditional method of
music publishing, I feel, may be going the way of 8-track tapes.
