This morning I was at my desk by 5:15 am. Beth, Gary and I are preparing a Request for Proposal (RFP) to provide professional development programs to a county in New York. An RFP is like a grant application. If you’ve never done one of those, it’s like filling out forms at the Department of …
Today, my longtime partner and spouse, Beth, joined me for a recording day at New Hope Community. I love working with my wife. Over the summer, Beth and I facilitated a lyric writing day with Gary Siegel and New Hope’s team of administrators. We then composed a melody and sent their music specialist a track …
Thank you for following me on these posts about my work history and discoveries. While some may find a memoir like this tedious, I hope that some of you find it interesting. I’ll try to keep this last part brief. Throughout our teaching artist career, we have focused on school assembly programs because that’s where …
In my late 20’s I realized that I didn’t want to be a businessman and that I preferred creating and playing music. What I didn’t know at that moment was that the two selves weren’t separate, meaning that if I wanted to have a family and a home and be a musician, it was in …
I’m 62 years old and I have been working on and off (mostly on) for 51 of those years. At age 11 my first job was a paper route, a starting job I now consider mild child abuse. Back then, the paper boy bought his papers and earned a profit when the subscribers paid their …
Tonight we watched a documentary about David Chase, the creator and show runner for The Sopranos, a series Beth and I watched twice. I was less interested in Chase than I was in seeing the actors again and watching them play the roles that were likely the highlight of their careers. I wonder what my …
Once upon a time, the area where we are currently living was home to a dozen or so large (and super large) resorts plus over 500 small and medium sized hotels, boarding houses and bungalow colonies. Summering in the Catskills was a huge thing. Driving through the area, now, we often spy the ruins of …
Once a week, Beth and I take a trip to the Food Hub where we pick up meals to be delivered to food insecure families and individuals. The sponsoring organization, A Single Bite, has been feeding people weekly since early in the pandemic. Food delivery is not a difficult or time consuming job for us. …
Beth and I like to take a walk every day, especially on the days when we aren’t going to our gym at the Villa Roma, the last remaining hotel from the glory days of the Catskills. If we turn left out of our driveway, we go uphill and if we turn right, we go up …
After discussing the topic of practice, musicianship and related issues with Beth, I decided to do a little research on the science of practice. I love this piece written by Dawn Gregory, a Quora contributor, and self proclaimed “Emissary of Love.” How do you become motivated to practice something you love, even if you’re not …