I’m a guy who mostly lives in the “right now.” I never thought too much about yesterday, and probably never thought enough about tomorrow. Composing and producing music (often on a deadline), [...]
It’s always interesting to see a young person discover something old, and think that it’s new. I remember when my younger son, who was about fifteen at the time, came to me and said, “Dad, I just [...]
Most of us have been “pigeonholed,” or creatively typecast at some point in our lives. For all I know, it’s human nature to reduce another person to a particular thing, so we can better identify [...]
Generally speaking, music appeals first to our emotions. What is it about a beautiful melody, or evocative harmonies that appeals to the heart? And if it has a great beat, music reaches some [...]
Robert Sterling’s For Unto Y’All is a delightful gospel musical based on the Biblical Nativity story… In this version, however, whilst the characters’ and town names remain the same [...]
My previous blog on the importance of piano accompaniments in choral arranging drew a healthy response from readers. And more than one person wrote to ask (and I paraphrase): “What about those [...]
There are lots of different ways to accompany choral music. Piano, organ, brass ensemble, symphonic orchestra, rhythm section, bluegrass band, and every thinkable combination between. But the [...]
The word amateursometimes gets a bad rap. Besides describing one who follows a pursuit without being paid, amateur also means “inept” or “incompetent.” But there are a lot of [...]
I am reading a book, The Sound of Broadway Music, about the men who orchestrated the Broadway musicals of the 1930s-1960s. The author, Steven Susskin, studied the handwritten [...]
It’s been quite a year. In the past twelve months, I’ve been through a major surgery and a minor surgery. I’ve buried a younger sister, an old friend, and a mentor. My wife, a [...]
