Path: nuchat!menudo.uh.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!not-for-mail From: dave.lampson@pulse.com (Dave Lampson) Newsgroups: rec.music.classical Subject: rec.music.classical Biographical Compendium Part 2 of 3 Date: 2 Sep 1993 09:59:46 -0500 Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway Lines: 1026 Sender: daemon@cs.utexas.edu Message-ID: <9309021428.AA07818@software.pulse.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu Dave Frederick (sasdrf@unx.sas.com) -------------- Born sometime in the late '50's (my parents tell me 1958, by I don't remember much before 1960) just outside lovely Philadelphia. After encountering a living beatnik (a trumpet player named Vigo) at the tender age of 7, I decided that I would be a musician. Since my brother had also decided to follow our mentor and study trumpet, and since the trombone had that neat sliding dohickey that would fascinate any second grader, I opted for the study of trombone at that time. In my fourteenth year, my parents were prompted to move our homestead to the Blue Ridge mountain city of Roanoke, Virginia. Suddenly becoming a rather large fish in a somewhat small pond, I began to make a name for myself as a "young musician" in my high school years, performing in such varied ensembles as the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, the Mill Moutain Playhouse (in the pit of a summer schlock theatre), and whatever union gig came my way, such as circuses (circi?) where a colleague once collected some elephant phlegm on his case, horse shows (a big draw in VA), and once even the Miss VA pageant (where the musician has a similar view from below the runway as do the judges, making it that much easier to predict the winner and why:-), as well as any county, district, and even all-state bands our public educational system provided. Having been cursed with this false success at such an early age, I convinced myself to pursue music as a career. I attended Syracuse University as an undergrad, graduating magna cum lauda in Composition with Performance Honors at a school whose music program was beginning to decay into oblivion (I'm extremely dismayed to report that I've read that all but the music ed department are being eliminated from the degree program at Syracuse, and that the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra has recently folded due to insolvency). While at Syracuse, I was able to study with the Ying and Yang of their Hindemith-taught composition faculty (Howard Boatwright and Franklin Morris were both old Yale alums, each with a different view regarding the worth of their mentor), as well as the estimable Earl George. I had the opportunity to spend 3 years in one of the largest analog electronic music studios in use at the time, as well as a part-time job in the university's recording studio, and both experiences were to provide me opportunities in my subsequent life. I also continued my performing career, playing with such heavyweights as Frank Cetrone and, of course, Stan Callela...his Trumpet and Orchestra (which was about his order of precedence in treating his musicians; unfortunately, being the local union big-wig in a very-closed town, he had a virtual monopoly on any lucrative gig the Symphony turned down). Not needing to study anything practical (hey, I was going to be a musician), I enrolled in enough German and Philosophy courses to risk not graduating until taking some football- level social sciences courses my senior year. Upon graduation, I decided to continue my studies at whatever reputable institution was willing to offer me the most lucrative financial aid package, and this turned out to be a fine school with an otherwise hefty price tag. Boston University offered me a full-tuition assistant- ship to teach electronic music in their piddly little studio (one Arp and a 4-track mixer!) for one semester a year. I studied trombone with Norm Bolter for a year, and, after returning to Syracuse over the summer for whatever gigs I could muster, became so frustrated with the treatment of freelance musicians that I discontinued my performing career. I studied composition first with Theodore Antoniou (whose style of composition was, shall we say, in sharp contrast with mine), and, when he returned from his Pulitzer sabbatical, David Del Tredici (who, although he could be quite a perfectionist and slave driver at times, was easily the most instructive and enjoyable teacher of composition I have ever encountered). But by far the most useful training I received while at this school was attending a two-semester workshop in digital music in Barry Vercoe's studio at MIT (and, if there are any student composers reading this in any Boston area schools, and if Professor Vercoe is still teaching this, I would most highly endorse this course even if you have absolutely no interest in studying electronic music!). In order to create a musical programming language which was "composer friendly", Dr. Vercoe invited each music school in the area to send up to two composers to attend his seminar (and there are several music schools in that area!). Among the represented were Berklee, Boston Conservatory, Boston Univ., Brandeis, Harvard, and New England Cons. By the second semester, when most of the undergrad MIT engineers who realized that this was indeed a music class and not recess were weeded out, while a few MIT students with a great technical knowledge and an understanding of and appreciation for music remained, we were able to have a twice-weekly forum for composers from different schools to share ideas. But I digress... While completing my MMus., I was becoming increasingly disenchanted with my music career, both in terms of what I was doing (or not doing), as well as the unfriendly environment in which I was doing or not doing whatever it was that I had set out to do. Fortunately, having had that wee bit of computer training at MIT allowed me to land a job at a small medical technologies company, where I helped write a digital EKG analysis system despite my complete lack of formal training in both computers and medicine (kind of sheds some new light on the medical profession, eh?). Actually, we did have an actual doctor to consult while working on the project (even if he was an urologist rather than a cardiologist), and they did send me to UMass/Boston to complete an MS in Computer Science. Once I completed this degree, I married my wife (a real live working musician, not a refugee like myself), and sought a better job. I worked for a firm along 128 which was indirectly defense oriented (well, most of it was directly defense oriented, but I had a bit of a buffer since I was working on the Ada compiler). This company was going through what we call hard times while I was there and, living in Boston at the peak of the false boom and therefore unable to purchase housing while my wife was getting burnt out by her 40-odd flute students and freelancing career, we decided a change was in order. So we exchanged senators (from Ted Kennedy to Jesse Helms... I love living on the edge) by moving to the cultural Mecca of North Carolina, where I've spent the past four years working for a splendid corporation in a glorious environment where the musical life is at best abysmal. Thus, while my training fostered a love of music itself in spite of a disdain for a lot of what one needs to do in order to be on the productive (or reproductive) end of music, and now being starved for musical interaction of any kind, I lurk on the net ready to pounce on any comment that allows my cynicism to better my judgement. Sorry. Mike Garrahan (mike@satvrnvs.async.vt.edu) ------------- Violinist and undergraduate student at Virginia Tech. Plays in a quartet that meets about once a week and occasionally gives private performances. Principal second violin in the community/student orchestra. Also does a daily classical music program on the college radio station once a week; plays mostly modern music, avoids Top 100. Listens to the radio a lot. Enjoys St. Louis Symphony concerts and Peter Van de Graaff. Favorite composers are Brahms, Dvorak, R Strauss. Also fond of Mendelssohn, Schumann, and most modern music. Partial to lesser-known works and pieces for string orchestra or quartet. Other activities include astronomy and computer programming. Fred Goldrich (fredg@escc.com) ------------- Both parents violinists, showed interest in music at an early age; first musical love, Gilbert & Sullivan; first instrument, accordion! Secretly always wanted to conduct, didn't have the courage to admit it. Did some conducting in college (N.Y.U.), but was a Physics major, eventually went on to a Ph.D. from Princeton. But was utterly miserable, immediately went into musical comedy conducting; after six years experience, decided to make the break toward classical conducting. Conducted the Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra for four seasons. Took Vincent LaSelva's course in the Juilliard extension division (highly recommended!); attended conducting workshops taught by Max Rudolf, Gunther Schuller, Kurt Sanderling, Lawrence Leighton Smith, David Zinman, Sergiu Comissiona, and others. Currently studying with Michael Charry, Music Director at Mannes and formerly assistant to Szell in Cleveland. One of three candidates for new Music Director of South Shore Symphony (Rockville Center, Long Island), will conduct them in concert this May (you will all be invited). Earns a living as free-lance programmer. Andrea K. Hakari (hakari@stolaf.edu) ---------------- I'm in the Class of '95 at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota. I'm in the Paracollege - design-your-own-major - concentrating on Contemporary Christian Music, and I am also getting my certification in music ed, vocal and instrumental. I play bass and Bb contrabass clarinets in the St. Olaf Band, and Bb contra in the St. Olaf Clarinet Choir. I study clarinet with Dr. Jo Ann Polley, and my voice teacher is Anthony Holt. Our band director is Miles "Mity" Johnson. I dread music history and enjoy theory somewhat. Gregorian chant turns me off. I'm a fan of Vivaldi, Purcell, Shostakovich, Kabalevsky, and the King's Singers. If anyone's wind ensemble needs a contra clarinetist to play a concert, call me...HA!!! I hope to attend grad school for instrumental conducting - West Virginia, UW-Eau Claire, Illinois, or Northwestern. I AM CONTRA -- HEAR ME PLAY! Martin Hasch (martin@mathematik.uni-ulm.de) ------------ I was born on the 4th of July, 1964, in a small town in the northeast of the southwest of the south of western Germany. I didn't bother much about classical music then. When my parents let me choose an instrument to get taught - some six years later - I already had grown a deep affection for very low pitches and thus wanted to learn double-bass. For quite obvious reasons, however, it was decided that I should start with a violin first and later on work my way down to the larger ones of the kind. This plan worked out very well in that it relieved me from the squeaky thing when I just had about enough of it, in favour of a violoncello, which in turn never had to be replaced by anything I would have liked more. Or so it seemed. At least I, after a fashion the white sheep of the family, stuck to it rather longer than my brothers and sister to their respective piano lessons, and kept playing in one or another orchestra when my lessons came to an end mostly due to financial reasons. Some years later still, in 1988, I found myself in the middle of my math studies in Ulm, with a layer of dust on the cello case and in the company of an electronic organ rather than an organ _player_ I had been passionately in love with just until then. The instrument had lots of buttons and controls to keep oneself occupied for some time, since I had bought it myself, and so I kept myself occupied trying them out one after another. Fiddling around with the built-in rhythm machine in particular started to focus my attention on percussion as such and eventually I purchased a pair of congas. The organ, nota bene, remained lingering in its corner ready for any further creative outburst. And sure enough that outburst came, when I began composing my own music. The organ has served rather to edit scores than as a target instrument ever since, for its synthesized or sampled sounds just aren't up to compete with those of acoustic instruments at all. A quite significant example for this observation I found on one utmost impressive day spent in a store of percussion instruments, and at once had to add to my list of favourite entities: The Chinese tam-tam. At this point I posted in the rec.music.classical newsgroup a request the outcome of which should effect my further course of actions. I asked for pieces of classical music with tam-tams, and indeed got several answers. One of the most warmly recommended works was ``Le roi David'' by Arthur Honegger (i can but second that choice now), and what should our university choir put on their next programme but exactly that piece! Of course I joined them as soon as the rehearsals began and, thus, got me yet another new passion, - singing. The performance of ``Le roi David'', featuring me singing in the choir and my tam-tam played by a professional percussionist, was an exciting experience to begin with. Shortly later, in February 1992, I became more serious in my singing ambitions and began to take voice training lessons, which I have been enjoying ever since. Although my voice teacher also is a conductor (Celibidache pupil) and composer, my studies have been concentrating on voice technique so far. I am still composing for my own pleasure, however, and had a first performance of an half-hour opus for pipe organ and tam-tam just recently. Its reception was apt to encourage me to do more of the kind, but I reckon I have yet a lot to learn before I can really go into that sort of business. And then of course I am quite occupied finishing my math degree at the moment. Robert Haskins (rhaskins@comm1.ab.umd.edu) -------------- Born June 24, 1960, Roanoke, Virginia Began studying clarinet and writing music at age 12. Undertook study of piano at 14, "in order to learn how to write effectively for the instrument." Discovered through this study a flair for the keyboard, leading to musical studies in that instrument first at the University of Southern Mississippi (Hattiesburg). While at USM, studied piano with George Imbragulio, composition with Luigi Zaninelli, and harmony with William Presser. In 1980, transferred to Peabody Conservatory of Music, majoring in piano with Lillian Freundlich. Completed Master's in piano in 1984. Also studied harpsichord with Shirley Mathews and composition with Elam Ray Sprenkle. In 1985, won full scholarship for study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, where continued studies in harpsichord with Christopher Kite. Earned the concert recital diploma (that school's highest performance degree) in harpsichord in 1986; was the first harpsichordist to do so in the school's history. After return to the U.S., was a co-founder of Industrial Arts, synthesizer ensemble devoted to the performance of music composed by its members, as well as performances of Steve Reich, Phil Glass, Gavin Bryars, et al. Group continued to 1989. In 1988, began writing articles about music, visual art, performance art for various newspapers and magazines. The list includes _The Sun_ (Baltimore), _Columbia Flier_ (their Classical Music Critic since 1990), _Chorus!_ magazine, and (most recently) the _American Record Guide._ After a hiatus from academia, returned to Peabody in 1991 to complete a long-delayed thesis for the degree Master of Music History. The thesis is titled "The Music of Philip Glass, 1965-1975: An Analysis of Three Selected Early Works and _Einstein on the Beach_." Was awarded the Mellon Fellowship in Humanistic Studies in 1993, and plans to use the award at the Eastman School of Music, where I will begin doctoral studies in both musicology and harpsichord in the fall. I also do work for radio and sit in on some panel discussions on 20th century music, and maintain some semblance of a performing life (gave recital in May, 1993 and appeared on concert programs this the spring as well). Principal musical interests/preferences are 20th century music and Baroque music, but draw no sharp ideological lines preventing me from enjoying a healthy interest in other periods as well. Also interested in progressive music -- industrial music and techno music. Favorite performer: Glenn Gould Recent listening passions: Cage, Chris Mandra, Scarlatti harpsichord music. Curtis Heisey (curtis@aer.com) ------------- By trade I am an apprentice in atmospheric science, but my first love is classical music. My interest in music began at an early age, and I played trombone from age 11 through college. My current favorites are Mahler, Bartok, Stravinsky, and Shostakovich. I'm also a pipe organ aficionado and enjoy Bach, Tournemire, and Alain (and yes, even Widor). James G. Henderson (james@cfmu.eurocontrol.be) ------------------ I do not have anymore detailed information at the office, but I have sung (tenor) in a choir in Manchester (England) which performed Gordon Crosse's piece called "Changes" for choir and (large) orchestra. It refers to bell-ringing changes as I recall. It was quite an effective piece! Karl Prescott Henning (henning@acsu.buffalo.edu) --------------------- Born 6 Oct 1960 Karl Prescott Henning was born in Amityville, Long Island, the eldest of seven children; his family moved to New Jersey when he was 8. In the fifth grade, he found a science club to attend instead of the weekly music class, because he found the latter such a dismal waste of time. At the end of the sixth grade, however, at a friend's invitation he attended a school band concert, where he conceived a sudden, non-genetic and irrational interest in the clarinet; he immediately devoted himself to wearying his parents with pleas that he be permitted to learn to play the instrument. Henning's otherwise unfocused secondary schooling included private (but unexceptional) lessons, and participation in the band, various pit- orchestras for school plays, stage-band (prettified jazz-band), and chorus; in addition to the clarinet, he acquired some proficiency on the bass clarinet and a number of the more obnoxious saxophones. By audition, he also participated in northern New Jersey Region Bands, and the All-State Band and Orchestra. Towards the end of high school, he also began work which would later direct itself towards composition, in arranging the wind-charts for /West Side Story/ for three winds (hey, we were on a tight budget), and arranging the upbeat bits of /Star Wars/ for marching-band, by ear (anticipating the subsequent industrial rush to provide such arrangements). Henning's exposure to the so-called "classic repertory", then, was much delayed; consisting at first of various arrangements for symphonic band. Upon graduation from high school (1978), lacking money for further education, or even (since neither of his parents had any experience with Institutions of Higher Learning) the knowledge of how to beg for student loans, Henning passed three years as a bank teller. This period was characterized by a growing awareness that what he really wanted and ought to do, was music; an increasing but unsystematic familiarity with varieties of pop-music; participation in a church choir and occasional semi-pro pit-orchestras; and poverty. Through the patient and generous guidance of a friend, Henning came to attend the College of Wooster (Ohio), where he took a B.M. with departmental honors, studying clarinet and conducting with Nancy Buckingham Garlick, and composition with Jack Gallagher. His other activities included acting (most notably playing Salieri in the campus production of Amadeus), and writing poetry and fiction. After a year in Oklahoma unconducive to brief explanation, Henning took an M.A. at the University of Virginia (Charlottesville), studying composition with Judith Shatin, conducting with A. Douglas Hargrave, and beer-brewing (with possible compositional ramifications) with Walter Ross. Henning co-founded and -directed a student chamber orchestra, the Camerata Rotunda; and continued writing poetry and fiction of a sort which sent academic English departments scurrying for cheap handguns. After the two-year program at UVa, Henning moved to Rochester NY, to finish his master's thesis (a 15' piece for chorus and wind ensemble to his own text, as yet unperformed) and to try to weasel his way into the doctoral program at the Eastman School. Instead, Henning wound up at SUNY Buffalo ["UB", locally], where he is currently completing his Ph.D. in composition. Here on the sunny banks of the Niagara River, Henning and his colleagues, Gary Barwin and Houston Dunleavy, maintain a composer/performer group dubbed the Fires of Tonawanda; and Henning has studied for two years with visiting professor Charles Wuorinen. At time of going to press, he has all but finished his comprehensive examinations (including a 10' unpitched percussion quartet, /to the person sitting in darkness/, to be performed this Fall by the UB Percussion Ensemble); and is about to begin work on his dissertation: a 20' piece for S, T & B solo and wind ensemble, titled /Uncondission'd Ayres/, on texts of his own. On an uncharacteristically first-person note, my other interests and miscellaneous pursuits include Japanese (the language, principally), and Strip Cribbage. Jill Hollifield (jill@gopher.ccbr.umn.edu) --------------- I was born in 1966 in Bangor, Maine, and have lived all over the country as an Air Force brat. I come from a non-musical family, and remember first becoming enthused about classical music after seeing a television broadcast of Il barbiere di Siviglia with Beverly Sills when I was 10. It was then I started nagging my parents for music lessons. I made up for a late start by being very active musically through high school - I played oboe in band and orchestra, piano for two choirs and the jazz band, and sang with the concert and jazz choirs. During this period, I discovered that I was much more comfortable as a singer than as an instrumentalist, and began seriously studying voice. I was a vocal performance major my first year in college, but frustrated by slow progress, switched to theatre. I graduated from the University of MN in 1988, with a major in theatre arts and a minor in vocal performance. I then became very active in theatre around the Minneapolis area, and totally dropped singing. But I am studying again with a vengeance! A year ago I started lessons again, and am learning some of the 'lighter' Mozart roles (e.g., Zerlina, Pamina, Cherubino), and have discovered a great affection for Rossini. I am not in a choir at the moment, but sing wherever and whenever I can. My goal is to sing in at least one opera before I die. (The stint I did as a gingerbread child in Hansel und Gretel when I was 12 doesn't count!) My main musical interests are opera and choral works - I find the human voice to be the most passionate instrument of them all. But I also enjoy chamber orchestra works, early music, and anything with a talented conductor or soloist. I don't have a favorite period, but don't tend to listen to a lot of Romantic orchestral music. I make a living as a part-time graphic designer for an AIDS-research project at the University of Minnesota, as a part-time comedy improvisation and beginning acting instructor for adults, and as a free-lance actress and improvisationalist. I hope to add musician to this list soon. Nancy Leinonen Howells (howells@athena.mit.edu) ---------------------- b: 2/14/62, Cheboygan, Michigan I began piano study at the age of 5, because I had a sister who studied, who was 10 years older than I, and I really wanted to be as good as she was. Ten years later, I decided that no matter what I did, I would never play as well as my sister, and I switched to voice. Good decision. I attended Central Michigan University from 1980-1985, where I attained the Bachelor of Music. I began at CMU in the BME program, but was encouraged to switch majors in my junior year, after it was discovered that I had a voice *and* that I was better suited to teaching adults than children. In 1985, I enrolled at the University of Michigan, and achieved an MM and a DMA, both in voice performance. While at UM, I taught private voice and co-taught a vocal pedagogy class. My main interests were in teaching and in research into vocal pedagogy, particularly the psychology of voice. After achieving my doctorate, I got married, and moved to the Boston area. Circumstances have forced me to perform, a situation I had not anticipated when I left school, and one which is not necessarily my ideal. I am currently auditioning with regional choral ensembles for solo work, and sing with the Boston Cecilia as a choral member. In addition, I work with churches and do the "odd job" that singers do to pull in a few dollars here and there -- the funeral and wedding circuit, in other words. My voice is suited to late romantic and early twentieth-century music, Puccini, Verdi, the lyric works. I love Puccini, and so there isn't a problem there. My music of choice for listening is vastly eclectic, ranging from Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff to Puccini, to Depeche Mode, depending on how life's been going. I was raised on tight gospel harmony because of my church background, so I *adore* vocal jazz. If I had to do it all over again? I'd have stayed with the BME... Michael Hughes (mhughes@miamiu.acs.muohio.edu) -------------- Born 9/28/63 I am manager of the Statistical Consulting Center in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics here at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. I do statistical analysis for faculty and graduate students at Miami, as well as a few outside consulting jobs, but my first love is music. I am a semi-professional percussionist and play in a couple of area ensembles including a symphonic band. My specialty in percussion is marching percussion, and I work with area high schools to help develop their percussion programs. I also write and arrange the percussion books for some area high school marching percussion ensembles and give private lessons. I am a big fan of the drum and bugle corps activity. My initial exposure to serious music came in high school when we played some staples of the band literature as well as some orchestral pieces transcribed for band. I developed the interest on my own through record (now CD) collecting. While I have a fondness for 19th and 20th century orchestral and choral works, my first passion is organ music, especially French organ music from 1890. My particular favorites come from the hand of Durufle, Dupre and Tournemire, all of whom were also impeccable improvisors on the organ. Below are listed some of my favorite works, in several idioms: Orchestral favorites: Prokofiev Symphony No. 5; Piano Concerto No. 3 (some with choral) Shostakovich Symphonies No. 7, 8, 10, 11 Messiaen Turangalila-Symphonie Barber School for Scandal; Essays Mahler Symphonies No. 2, 5, 8 Hindemith Symphonic Metamorphoses Nielsen Symphony No. 5 Choral favorites: Faure Requiem Bernstein Chichester Psalms Durufle Requiem Rachmaninov The Bells; Vespers Organ favorites: Bach P&F in D, BWV532; Schubler Chorales Franck Grande Piece Symphonique; Chorale No. 1 Widor Symphonie Gothique; Symphonie Romane Vierne Pieces de Fantaisie; Symphony No. 2 Durufle Suite, Op. 5; P&F on the name ALAIN Dupre Symphonie-Passion; Cortege et Litanie; Entree, Canzona et Sortie, Op. 62 Tournemire Fresque Symphonique No. 2, Op. 76; Symphonie-Choral; L'Orgue Mystique Sowerby Comes Autumn Time Mike Hurben (hurben@lamar.colostate.edu) ----------- Age 25 B.S. University of Utah, 1990, Physics Currently pursuing Ph.D in Physics at Colorado State University Musical training - none Musical interests : All classical music, but mainly German romantic composers, namely Wagner and Mahler. Favorite piece : Der Ring des Nibelungen - Wagner I am currently doing research to write a book on Wagner's music dramas. Werner Icking (icking@gmdzi.gmd.de) ------------- I was born in 1943. When I was 10 or 11 my parents "convinced" me that it would be funny for me to play the violin. I got a really bad violin - no it wasn't a violin, it was a Schachtel! One choice I had was to go to a teacher who was known to be severe and rigorous, and therefore I decided to take another! Today I know that this was very bad, because for children it is much more easy to learn playing the violin than for adult, when the flexibility of the muscles and bones has diminished. But at that time I made this wrong decision. I had lessons for 5 or 6 years, got a better (factory made) violin, played in the (bad) high-school orchestra but with less and less interest. So I stopped playing the violin - and started playing piano without lessons. I played dance-music, spiritual, and jazz and founded a small band at the beginning of the sixties. At that time you couldn't buy cheap synthesizers or a drum computer - you had to make the music all by yourself. In practicing I learned a lot about harmonies - but couldn't name them! Then came a long time without making music, up to the time I re-started playing a little bit on the violin - just for fun (for what else?). That was in 1976, and in 1980 I found a piano player who looked for other musicians to play together with. We tried to play a lot of sonatas for violin & piano (Haendel, Scarlatti, Mozart, ...) After some time I knew that it would be necessary to take lessons. That was in 1984 and I found a good teacher at the music school of our small town. She is now the concertmaster of the (amateur) Kammerorchester der Musik- schule der Stadt Bonn, where I play the 1st violin. But first, starting at end of 1986, I played in the 2nd violin from the last to the first chair. In the meantime I played in another orchestra, too. It's a smaller one: 9 violins, 2 violas, 2 celli - but here I'm (have to be) the concert- master (primus inter pares). And because I have lessons my week is full of self-made music: Monday lessons, Tuesday rehearsal in Bonn, (every 2nd) Thursday together with the pianist, Friday rehearsal with the small orchestra in Siegburg. On the weekend I have to practice and play together with my children. Ann (16) plays recorder and violin, Julia (13) piano. The Bonner orchestra gives concerts in Bonn and especially those towns which have a partnership with Bonn. We have had concerts in Salzburg (1987), Rome and Firenze (Florence?) (1988), Maidenhead (near London, 1989), Rome and Frascati (near Rome, 1990), Saint Cloud (near Paris, 1991), Potsdam (near Berlin, 1991). Because I studied mathematics and physics I have some knowledge about physical aspects of violin and music and mathematical aspects of music. Because I've dealing with computer science since 1966, I use computers e.g., for typesetting music with Mu(sic)TeX. Oh yes, not to forget: for some years I have had a better violin and a good bow - what most forget! The violin may/can? be a French Sylvestre from 1899 - that means that it isn't build by the famous Sylvestre who lived earlier but by one of his descendants. I have a bulk of sheet music because I often visit Budapest where my wife was born. Up to now you could buy sheet music there for low prices with often high quality. In addition, the are some places where you can buy second hand sheet music - sometimes very interesting old editions. If someone is interested I may post a list of the sheet music I have. Bill Johnson (mwj@lanl.gov) ------------ I'm a staff scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory (Ph.D., nuclear chemistry, U of Rochester 1979) and an amateur musician, it being easier to make ends meet and enjoy oneself that way than by being a professional musician and amateur scientist. :-) I'm a poorish pianist, lapsed but at one time fair-to-middling woodwind player, moderately proficient bass/baritone, and have been known to wave a conductor's baton erratically at church choirs and school music groups from time to time, generally without lasting damage to same. Currently I perform almost exclusively with the Sangre de Cristo Chorale (Santa Fe, NM), which I serve additionally as president of its board of directors. I've also sung with a number of other New Mexico choral groups and the odd barbershop quartet, and have done a limited amount of solo work in the course of these engagements. Born 1952, married into a musical family (wife sings and used to be a cellist until she broke a wrist, two in-laws with voice degrees), and proud daddy of two boy sopranos. My musical tastes run to choral music of the Renaissance and Baroque, notably that of Vivaldi (who really did write choral music other than the "great" Gloria! :-) ), G. Gabrieli and Schuetz, but I will cheerfully listen to practically any singing that doesn't sound like it's emerging through the singer's nose (or some other inappropriate orifice). Chris Johnson (kupixel@oread.cc.ukans.edu) ------------- I am Chris Johnson but more commonly known as pixel, from Robert Heinlein's _The Cat Who Walks Through Walls_. I am 20 years old and have the misfortune of residing in Kansas, where I attend KU. I come from an entirely non- musical family; an abortive experience with the piano in elementary school proved that I would continue in this tradition. My musical tastes gravitate toward the Beatles, industrial (I regularly post on rec.music.industrial), and Russian composers. I am a Russian major, but that is completely coincidental to my tastes. My favorite composer is Chaikovskii, and I listen to Rimski-Korsakov, Stravinskii, and Mussorgskii among others; but i'm not exclusive--i enjoy Beethoven, Bach, Haydn, etc. I am relatively new to classical music (growing up with a mother who introduced me to the Doors and the Clash made it interesting) but I am slowly building my knowledge as well as my CD collection. Susan Harwood Kaczmarczik (amadeus@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu) ------------------------- Born 2 December 1966 -- the birthday of both Maria Callas and Rudolf Friml. I have a Bachelor's degree in Bassoon Performance from the University of Texas at Austin (1989), and some additional coursework for a Master's in musicology. Decided I'd had it with musicians and all their angst, so am now a writer and stay-at-home mom. I don't play any bassoon right now (although I expect that won't last forever). In answer to the inevitable question: I started playing bassoon because I was the only one in my band who knew what it was when the director asked. (I have been told that this is how many bassoonists get their start.) My favorite composer is Mozart - hence my login name - but my favorite era of music is baroque, and then renaissance and medieval. I also enjoy Beethoven, Vaughan Williams, and Brahms. When I did play, my favorite things to play included the Vivaldi bassoon concerti, the bassoon parts to any Mozart opera or piano concerto, all the Mozart wind serenades and divertimenti that have bassoon parts, first bassoon in Brahms' first symphony, and (yes) first bassoon in _La Boheme_. When I thought I wanted to do this for a living, my goal was a chamber orchestra or the pit of an opera company. Even though I'm not playing these days, I still sing (mezzo-soprano, strictly chorus level), and I still love to listen to and to talk about classical music. My 9-month-old daughter keeps me from replying to as many discussions as I used to, but I still read the group quite frequently and post when I can. And I'm lucky enough to live in Austin, where we have a listener-supported, non-commercial classical radio station. Favorite Performers: John Miller (bassoon); Kiri te Kanawa; Frederica von Stade; Carol Vaness; Thomas Allen; Itzhak Perlman; Vienna Philharmonic. Favorite Conductors: Neville Marriner; James Levine; Leonard Bernstein. Pet Peeves: Hip opera scenery and costumes; overly ambitious period orchestras; classical music snobs; Charles Ives; Herbert von Karajan; people who think they can sing the part of the Queen of the Night who can't; people who think Mozart was really a foul-mouthed pink-haired twit. My One Unrequitable Dream: To be able to play Cherubino. Michael Kahn (mkahn@merle.acns.nwu.edu) ------------ I'm a freshman at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois majoring in journalism. I play trombone in several ensembles here, including marching band and concert band, and all throughout high school I was a closet classical music junkie; closet because I probably would have been tarred and feathered for liking "that nerd music." It's nice to be able to be open about it. I'll listen to just about anything once; after that it's totally random whether or not I'll like it. I seem to have no definite tastes - except for the fact that I have never met a Suppe overture I didn't like. Romain Kang (romain@pyramid.com) ----------- I was born in 1961, in Richmond, Virginia. My parents both loved music, but the only instruments played in my house were the radio and the phonograph, until one day in 1968 when my older brother Furman was playing outdoors and happened across a lady who taught 'cello, violin, piano, and flute, and raised chinchillas on the side. Furman jumped at the chance to take Suzuki method violin lessons and I followed the next week because I felt I could tolerate the sounds of practicing better if I understood what they were about. Eventually, I became a violin student of Frederick Neumann (better known as the author of _Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-Baroque Music_). By strange coincidence, my mother wound up as a biochemist in New Jersey the same year Dr. Neumann was visiting at Princeton University, so we lived in New Jersey for a year. Between the influences of New Jersey and wearing a braces and a retainer, my speech remains, um, highly idiosyncratic to this day. Back in Richmond, I joined the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra in 1971 and continued to participate there until I graduated from high school. During my years at a boys' school, I coached middle school violin students and started to sing in the glee club. I also had the fortune to perform concerti by Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Lalo with the Richmond Sinfonia and the Youth Orchestra. My summers were opportunities for musical growth. I attended the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, NC (1976 and 1977), where Wynton Marsalis and his pals carried off pranks such as moving the camp director's car onto a terrace. At Ivan Galamian's Meadowmount School in upstate NY (1978) I came to the realization that I was not focused (or crazy?) enough to become a concert violinist. In later summers, Raymond Glover (later General Editor of the Episcopal _Hymnal 1982_) introduced me to church music and hymnody in his choir. As an undergraduate at Princeton University, I was manager of the University Orchestra for two years, and masqueraded as a recording engineer at recitals and other small concerts. As an EECS major, I did independent work assisting Paul Lansky with his computer music platforms on UNIX. I became a systems engineer with Pyramid Technology Corporation in 1985, but I continued to play in the Princeton orchestra. I toured with amateur choirs in France and Austria, and discovered first-hand why all the choirs I had accompanied over the years had a hard time performing opera and musicals. ("Here I am, an Asian member of an American chorus in a French operetta performing on an Austrian stage with a Spanish setting, singing in German -- I got contact lenses because eyeglasses would be out of place?") Aside from my church and a fling as a gondolier in a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, my music making activities have been curtailed since I moved to California to join Pyramid's development group in 1989. However, if I got wind of an orchestra or chorus that performed material I liked and did it well, I wouldn't mind climbing out of the guts of UNIX network software on a regular basis to make music. Currently, I favor choral music, especially in the Anglican tradition, though I try to be receptive to whatever music I encounter. In the past year, I have started to acquaint myself with more folk and country music, and have developed a special fondness for the songs of Mary-Chapin Carpenter. My favorite violinist is Gil Shaham, for his ability to draw a lyrical line out of even highly technical pieces. Howard Koo (hkoo@chaph.usc.edu) ---------- First, let me tell a little bit about myself. I am 24. I am a Master of Accounting student at USC. I also have a B.S. in Math. Ooops, I thought this is my resume. :) I don't have any background with classical music. Don't know how to play any instrument either. My love for classical music started 6 or 7 years ago simply by listening to the radio. I gradually ventured into operas. The first opera I heard was Madame Butterfly, and I fell in love with operas ever since. Cav/Pag are my favorites. I've been listening to operas for 4 or 5 years now. Since I go to USC, KUSC is naturally my favorite station. KKGO also plays pretty good classical music (you'll know if you are from L.A.). I am also a great fan of new age music. My other interests include going to Museums and practicing my Karate. Bob Kosovsky (kos@cunyvms1.gc.cuny.edu) ------------ I was born, raised and educated in New York City. From infancy I was always listening to music. The first pieces of classical music that I learned were two 78-rpm sets I retrieved from the neighbor's garbage: Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik conducted by Beecham, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 conducted by Weingartner. The first vocal recording I recall was "Un bel di" from Puccini's Madama Butterfly sung by Jeanette MacDonald (oh well, live and learn). I began violin lessons when I was 9, but switched to piano when I was 12 because "I needed the harmonies." For my bachelor degree I attended the Mannes College of Music where I majored in music theory (graduated 1979), then onto Queens College for a Master's, also in music theory (graduated 1985), another Master's degree, this time in library science from Columbia College (1990), and I'm currently a Ph.D. candidate at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. My major has been music theory, but my dissertation will be about the radio music of Bernard Herrmann. Currently I'm a part-timer in three places: the Music Division of the New York Public Library (where I'm currently processing the papers of Bruno Walter), and a faculty member of the Mannes College of Music and Hunter College. Professionally, my areas of interest are the history of music theory with a special concentration on 18-19th centuries, Schenker and Schenker Analysis, film music, radio music. I don't have a favorite composer, though I hold Beethoven and Bach and Mozart to be up on top. Lately, as of Dec. 1991, I'm listening a lot to Mahler, Wagner, and of course, Bernard Herrmann. Winslowe Lacesso (lacesso@cs.ualberta.ca) ---------------- Born 61-11-03, Edmonton, Alberta Made to take a few piano lessons (when young), which I ended up enjoying tremendously, & spent much of teens teaching myself all sorts of pieces. Don't have much real talent, but compensate with mega-patience & keen determination. Played flute, oboe, piano, & bass guitar in school bands. Not all simultaneously, of course! Muchly into rock/pop in teens/early 20s. Left off music making after leaving high school & the family piano. Worked at misc.useless.jobs till recession of '82; upon which, laid off, finished matric & obtained, in '87, BSc. Cmput.Sci (Specialization, Numerical Analysis); during course of which I experienced a growing distaste for rock/pop, & a great passion for Baroque/Greg. chant/Renaissance/jazz/ Celtic. Worked in Calgary for 2 years, while finally getting real & actual instruction in flute & some in oboe, plus singing lessons (which v enjoyed). Took up NSERC scholarship in '89, moving back to Edmonton. Currently finishing MSc; research area is Computational Geometry, while amusing self in education/research in music/literature/poetry/philosophy. V**2 hope to return to Calgary before this year is out, restart flute & singing lessons, also have a darn good try at violin lessons. Possibly obtain decent kbd & teach myself again just for my own amusement. Oh, yes, & get a job to pay for all this & otherwise support me & cats. Have jammed a few times with other amateur musicians, & find it such pleasure that a major aim is to connect with other enthusiasts to play Baroque/classical music for our own enjoyment/instruction, possibly as volunteer/charity (i.e., seniors homes). Should I ever marry, I rather hope it'd be to a man who has a devotion to music or at least a strong artistic streak. Should anyone see fit to caution me against considering this for reasons all too obvious to them, but of which I am ignorant, I would v**2 appreciate hearing about it!! Lawrence David Lampson (lampson@pulse.com) ---------------------- Born February 5, 1957, Lawton, Oklahoma. Began studying trumpet at the age of 10, then switched first to baritone, then to trombone. Largely self-taught except for one high school course in contrapuntal harmony, and private performance lessons. Played in marching, concert and stage bands in high school; concert band and trombone choir for my first year in college. Taught myself transposition and arrangement by writing out popular pieces for rock band and stage band from piano and sketch scores. Gave up performance for degrees in nuclear engineering and mathematics from the University of Oklahoma. However, my interest in recorded and live music, and music history, continued unabated. Though I was exposed to classical music from an early age, my passion for the classics surfaced only about 12 years ago. Since then I've devoted a large portion of my leisure time to attending concerts, reading biographies, and collecting recordings of the Baroque, Classical and Romantic instrumental repertoire. Worked for the past 11 years as a software engineer and system analyst in the nuclear, aerospace, and now, telecommunications industries with specialization in realtime simulation/modeling and system development techniques. I'm thinking it may be time for another career change. Currently living in Centreville, Virginia (a suburb of Washington D.C.) with a dog, four cats, and, oh yes, my wife. Even though I still enjoy rock, hard rock and jazz, my listening these days is primarily pre-20th century classical music. I have a wide range of interest in composers from early Baroque through the Neo-Romantic, particularly those composers that have been largely forgotten for one reason or another. My most recent special interest is in the composers of the second New England School - Paine, Chadwick, Beach, MacDowell, etc. My current project is to develop a complete Vivaldi catalog cross-reference database. Other interests include movies, reading (mostly science fiction and fantasy, but also non-music biographies, history, etc.), some computer stuff, and lots of minor topics. I also maintain the recommended CD lists and some other information at FTP site cs.uwp.edu (131.210.1.4) and ftp.gmd.de (129.26.8.90), as well as the CLASSM-L and rec.music.classical biographical compendiums. Maarten van Loon (vanloon@cwi.nl) ---------------- I am 23 years old (born 6-24-1969 Amsterdam). I studied Applied Mathematics at Delft University of Technology. I graduated from University in September last year and now I am working as a Ph.D. student at the Centre for Mathematics and Information Technology (CWI) in Amsterdam. I am doing research on numerical treatment of air pollution modelling. So I am working on very actual subject.... My greatest hobby is classical music. I play the organ for more than 17 years now (I started when I was 5). Since about 10 years I am also organist in my own Reformed church in Haarlem - 20 km. from Amsterdam. My favorite composer is Bach. He not only composed great organ music, but also a lot of other beautiful compositions. I like most his vocal works, like the Passions, the h-moll messe etc. This religious music strengthens me sometimes in my faith. Of course, not only Bach was a great composer - but most of you probably realize that. In general, I prefer baroque music and also the classics like Mozart and Haydn. I have however great difficulty with appreciating modern music. Vance Maverick (maverick@cs.berkeley.edu) -------------- Born Nov. 21, 1965, Zuerich, Switzerland; raised Los Angeles, CA. Indifferent piano student from early years; some composition around age 8, but beginning seriously only at 13, when I discovered how much attention listening to the fifth Brandenburg could absorb. Study in harmony and ear training in LA; pieces for high-school orchestra, etc. Entered Yale 1982 as a composition major, but bailed out of the department after a year; too much history/theory bias for my impatient Romantic teenage conception of music. Earned BA in linguistics, but carried on in composition class, learning a lot from certain teachers, particularly David Hicks. Worked as a programmer for the next three years, among other things collaborating with David on a MIDI sequencer for the IBM PC. Some composition in this interval, primarily piano/vocal. Decided computers were interesting, began graduate school at UC Berkeley CS Division in 1989. Currently on leave until fall 1992; studying privately with David Sheinfeld in San Francisco -- finally learning all that stuff I resisted in my teens, finding it entirely appropriate. My listening tastes are both eclectic and picky. The time is long gone when I listened only to classical music, but it's still the core of my listening habit -- particularly twentieth-century music. Similarly, my own composition shows influences of lots of classical music, but also the alternative versions of mode, tonality, and melody in "world music" and jazz.