Biography (n.) - an account of a person’s life.
It would be relatively simple to think of, and include on this page, the history of my education and performances as a trumpet player. Although that would certainly give an accurate picture of my professional life, it would only really touch the surface of my full life. And ... my full life is what matters - it is what makes me the performer, teacher, husband, father, and friend that I am.
My life began in Peru, Illinois, in 1954. My parents provided me with a set of values and ethics that reflected their own upbringing in a simpler America: hard work, honesty, loyalty, humbleness, and a sense of fairness permeated every facet of my early life. My father’s experiences taught him that life was hard, that dreams did not always come true, but that the mark of a solid husband and father was the ability to continue with what had to be done ... to be there for his family. My mother was the true rock in our family, however, and her generous, self-sacrificing nature gave me a true friend and confidant who continues to be an important part of my life.
While I learned trumpet literally at my father’s knee and under his strict tutelage, it was not a consuming passion. When I wasn’t practicing, I was outside playing basketball ... an interesting adventure for an only child in a quiet neighborhood. My imagination provided me with a multitude of spectacular opponents, and our "games" took place no matter whether it was a scorching 97 degrees or a face-numbing 5 below in the snow! I never expected to have basketball be anything more than a pastime, but I approached it with the same dedication and practice ethic that my father demanded of my trumpet playing.
School provided other outlets for my growing trumpet skills. I played with my middle school and high school bands, competed in solo competitions, and aspired to be a studio musician. It was a fine time to be a student musician - our high school band was an impressive group. We toured Europe and won national competitions - all while trying to negotiate the precarious terrain of adolescence.
After a summer playing abroad, it was off to college. Finally, a chance to find out what kind of person I was without the backdrop of parents and home! Although my parents’ ethics and attitudes were firmly grounded by then, I grew to respect my own abilities to make sound choices, determine my own future, and dream my own dreams.
From there, life took an unexpected turn. I almost accepted a high school teaching position in Iowa when I got a call from a musical group looking for a trumpet player to tour with them. A moment of uncertainty, and then I was off on a multi-year excursion that took me all across the country, to Puerto Rico - and eventually to Reno where I met my wife, Karen, and began the next chapter in my life.
That chapter included a move to the Midwest to complete a doctoral degree after several years as a professional trumpeter. It was in Indiana where our only child, Jennifer, was born. Our family was the perfect reflection of our busy but happy lives ... and we have never lost the ability to just enjoy being together. Years of vacations, holidays, recitals, and music festivals ... we live and learn from each other daily. Now, with Jennifer grown and making the first steps toward setting off on her own life adventure, Karen and I begin to look forward to yet another chapter and the long, pleasant stroll toward retirement.
Throughout it all, music has been there - not an obsession, but a love nonetheless. For a while it was how I regarded myself ... what gave me value ... but the years have allowed me many opportunities to know that I am not my music. It is what I do, not who I am. This clearer understanding has improved my work as an educator many times over. Although I teach my students to play the trumpet and be better musicians (hopefully) than when they first step through my door, my hope is that I also teach them about life ... about how to respect themselves and each other, about how to value the effort and dedication they put into their work as much as the end result, and about how life is not in the label they may affix to themselves and their playing but in the whole person they become through the experiences. This has been my journey ... my biography ... an accounting of my life ... at least of my life so far
