I was born in 1951 in Benson, Minnesota, which is a medium-sized community out in the west-central part of the state. In this case, medium-sized means 3,000 souls. There wasn’t much along the line of organized activities for kids, so it was common to participate in music organizations both at school and at church. At the time, I didn’t think I was learning anything in particular from those music activities, but I was!
| 1956 – joined Cherub Choir at church
1957 – started piano lessons 1961 – joined school band as a drummer (they wouldn’t let me play trumpet) 1966 – started first band The Chilly Winds, a folk quartet playing banjo and singing 1966 – started getting parts in school plays 1969 – as freshman began studying music theory and taking percussion lessons at Macalester College, St. Paul, MN 1970 – joined college orchestra and band at Mac, joined St. Paul Civic Orchestra as timpanist 1971 – started highly successful rock trio “Tecumseh” playing drums and singing 1972 – joined Macalester College Festival Choir, directed by Dale Warland 1973 – had first performances with St. Paul Chamber Orchestra playing timpani 1974 – started grad school at New England Conservatory in Boston as Vic Firth student 1976 – got first grant of many for new music projects 1977 – finished grad school and resumed free-lance career in Minneapolis/St. Paul playing with St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Opera, VocalEssence, and other groups 1977 – formed new music ensemble Zeitgeist which toured nationally and throughout Europe 1984 – started teaching percussion at Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota 1989 – drumset etudes books published by major publisher Neil A. Kjos Music Co. 1993 – quit Zeitgeist 1994 – started Helios, the repertoire is a mix of jazz pieces and contemporary works 2000 – moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, began free-lance work with Omaha Symphony, Lincoln Symphony, Third Chair Chamber Players. teaching at home studio only. 2003 – began playing with Lincoln’s newly formed contemporary ensemble New Music Agency 2004 – played with Kansas City Symphony for the first time, played 2 series with Nebraska Brass Quintet, snare etudes books published by same publisher (Neil A. Kjos Music Co.) 2007 – founded the Anima Christi Singers, a vocal-music octet, whose purpose is to sing sacred music, a lot of which I write or arrange 2009 – join Lincoln Youth Symphony staff as coach of percussion section. Tour Italy with LYS. 2011 – tour Budapest and Vienna with LYS 2012 – Third Chair changes its name to Nebraska Chamber Players and extends its activities 2013 – LYS goes on tour again, this time to Prague, Dresden, and Leipzig 2015 – LYS on tour again, to Ireland and Northern Ireland. Ireland is the 13th European country I’ve played in! 2019 – Lincoln Youth Symphony tour to Rome. |