Blog

In April 2012, the Wausau Lyric Choir will be premiering my setting of the Mary Frye poem, “Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep.” It is a piece I was inspired to write due to the unexpected and unrelated deaths in 2005 of three people I had been close to: Fred Washa, a senior citizen volunteer and friend whom I co-wrote and staged children’s musicals with in my first teaching job a…
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(Originally posted April 21, 2006, MySpace page blog) Memoriam is a Sept. 11th piece. I wanted to share some background on it. Like most Americans, the events of September 11, 2001 affected me deeply. I felt very numb and still at first. The frantic pace of the modern world had come to a screeching halt, and I stood staring in helpless disbelief at the terrifying images being shown on television…
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(Originally posted Feb. 26, 2006, MySpace page blog) After my second son, Gavin, was born in 2004, I really didn't have time to write anything. Or the desire, really. Getting to know my new baby was pretty overwhelming/all consuming. During the summer, after he started sleeping thru the night more, I opened up my file of poetry that I'd like to set. This little 3 verse poem by Longfellow kept me …
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I sometimes get asked about how I got into composing. Well, the short answer is that for much of my life I have felt a need to create music. I was encouraged early on by family, friends, and my own successes that I could do it, and have been honing my skills ever since. And though at times I've waded through stretches of self-doubt and inactivity, I've always come back to the belief that this is s…
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