The mission

I created this site to present and share my music for woodwinds. My goal is for the pieces to be played (and, hopefully, enjoyed)!

Some of the arrangements are published by Trevco if you’re interested in a printed and bound edition. Otherwise, the music is shareware: Drop me a request via the contact page; I’ll send pdfs of score and parts.

In return, I’d be delighted to get feedback; or notification of a performance; or (best of all) a recording!

About Me

I am a composer / arranger / multi-instrumentalist active in non-professional music making.

I have a Bachelor of Music degree in Composition from Berklee College of Music where I first studied jazz theory and guitar, then, after a year, switched to the classical department as a pianist.

After graduation, I moved to New York where I landed a few opportunities to write music for some independent films. During that time, I attended a workshop in music copying and found I had a real talent for calligraphy. This led to several years of work as a music copyist and then “autographer”, producing camera-ready music manuscript by hand.

When Finale and other computer music notation programs came along, I jumped in enthusiastically to develop some expertise but found I actually had a broader interest in computer programming. Over time, I took a few courses and immersed myself in the emerging world of personal computing and became a consultant, eventually specializing in relational database design for a variety of clients in small business, arts and education.

I always had a musical project going: I composed songs to poetry by A.A. Milne, Shel Silverstein, Charles Causley, and Margaret Wise Brown; collaborated writing songs for a children’s musical, participated in the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop, played piano and clarinet in chamber music classes at the 92nd Street Y. One of my coaches at the Y was Jane Taylor, a wonderful bassoonist and teacher (and founding member of the Dorian Quintet).

I took up the bassoon (because I always wanted to play the bassoon — who doesn’t? *.) I studied with Jane, worked hard, and my playing improved quickly.

Amateur bassoonists are often more in demand than other instruments of the wind section and I was very fortunate to play in a top-notch non-professional orchestra, The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony, for 15 years. I played chamber music whenever possible as a pianist and bassoonist in a variety of ensembles, situations and venues.

I also began to compose and write arrangements for my own quintet (I use Sibelius for notation). A few of them were accepted for publication.

After 35 years in New York City, my wife and I moved to Burlington, Vermont.

Next up: accordion (because who doesn’t want to play the accordion??).

* “The bassoon is one of my favorite instruments. It has a medieval aroma, like the days when everything used to sound like that. Some people crave baseball...I find this unfathomable, but I can easily understand why a person could get excited about playing the bassoon.” — Frank Zappa