At The Prairie School I have the privilege of creating lively art in theatre, music and technical theatre with talented colleagues and students.  I was inspired by wonderful teachers at the College of Wooster (Stuart Ling and Marshall Haddock) and the University of Louisville (Leon Rapier and Nelson Keyes).  But, I have to say that my most impactful teachers have been my students, past and present, who inspire, challenge, and ever deepen my belief in the collaborative and life-giving power the arts possess.

Making music is important to me and I’ve been enriched by playing the trumpet with a variety of ensembles including the Racine Symphony, Bach Chamber Choir and Orchestra, Sullivan Chamber Ensemble, Castle Hill Ensemble, renaissance bands, at weddings and in churches, for a grape stomping (a Milwaukee Ballet dancer won!) and even in the Milwaukee Circus Parade’s Mounted Band (that means on a horse!). 

What I enjoy most about playing the trumpet is the versatility.  I get to play music from baroque to jazz, from classical to pops, from romantic to mariachi, from impressionistic to musicals, from romantic to klezmer.  I have played for affairs of state and for affairs of the heart, for folk dancers and for house concerts, for festivals on the ocean and for personal birthdays, for sun and for snow, for art fairs and for sled dogs, for pomp and for circumstance.  Such a deal!

In the summer I teach recorder to adults at The Clearing in Door County Wisconsin; last year our class commissioned and premiered Three Welsh Portraits by English composer, Alyson Lewin!

Besides creating, sharing, and promoting music, I’m a diversity consultant with the National SEED Project during the summer, training teachers to create classrooms and schools that respect all of us.  And,  I have a special fascination with historic buildings; I live in a small 1860s Greek cottage and have also reconstructed a German settler’s log cabin in Door County.

Music is such a paradox.  It’s about getting it right and also communicating your own understanding.  It’s about being able to play solo and also being able to play with others.  It’s about being who you are and merging yourself with a greater whole.  It is profound, uncompromising, embracing, interior, and outreaching.  At its best it touches your both your mind and soul.