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Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! I hope you all have a day filled with family, friends, food, and of course, music! Here are my top pics, music I’ll be listening to, and music that made me think of each of you… See if you can guess why! Music for Me & JJPup…

Never give up! Never forget, always keep remembering, not just what happened, but why it was and is worth it to fight for what you believe, and for what you love! Thank you to all of my family and friends for your service, I could fill volumes with your pictures,…

“The Wall Is Down and the City is Euphoric!” Bernstein’s legendary performance in Berlin after the wall came down of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, the last movement “Ode to Joy”. He made a spur of the moment change in the libretto, from “Freude” (Joy) to “Freiheit” (Freedom), making this literally…

Preface Searching for truth, answers, and choosing to not stand idle or be silent as we began to be shocked by what we saw in 2019 brought together four friends, “The Band of Brothers”. We are easy company for each other, and what started out as a chat between myself…

Five Musical Keys To Practicing Success Part One: Have Musical Heroes In the early stages, and in every stage, of your musical journey take advantage of learning from people who have mastered skills you are working on, who have meaningful careers in music, or who have incorporated music into their…

The title and the musical content say more than any blog ever could. The truly wonderful thing about music lies in the ability to express the “in between”, the events, feelings, thoughts, and emotions that cannot be captured in words. Glass creates the central themes based on the music of…

I was recently very proud of my brother Jared, a decorated Marine Corps Colonel, a wonderful husband and father, and generally great guy! He gave a speech on the topic of Memorial Day and said, “What did they die for? To protect our freedom and our way of life.” Jared…

“When the student is ready, the teacher appears. When the student is truly ready, the teacher disappears!” – Lao tzu Never a truer statement! It’s so much fun to receive calls, texts, and emails from former students and to hear how their careers and lives are developing as adults. Some…

If ever there was a greater act of power, beauty, grace, knowledge, and ease I have never seen or heard it. A life-long learner, Yo Yo Ma has performed and recorded the Bach, Six Cello Suites many times, but to play all of them so effortlessly, so flawlessly from memory…

Music crosses the language and cultural barriers that often make communication difficult. I cherish my experiences as a performer and as a listener. This music, from Steve Reich, performed by Alarm Will Sound, musicians I had the pleasure of knowing when we all studied at the Eastman School of Music,…