| Influences | Many of my teachers going back to the beginning, more often than not, made the making of music the primary focus over the playing of notes. Without my exposure to them or their ideas, my musicianship would have greatly suffered. Sue Gault (first piano teacher), George Black (first bass teacher), Nicholas Bussard (conductor, Whatcom Symphony Orchestra), Vilem Sokol (The Maestro, Seattle Youth Symphony), Ron Simon (bassist, Seattle Symphony), Victor Yampolsky and Jeff Bradetich (Northwestern University), Edwin Barker, Lawrence Wolfe, Oliver Knussen, Julius Levine, Seiji Ozawa and Leonard Bernstein (Tanglewood Music Festival), Timothy Eddy and Daniel Phillips (Bach Aria Festival), Larry Rachliffe (Chicago Philharmonic), Edgar Meyer, even Gary Karr, Dean and Dudley Evenson (Soundings of the Planet), countless folks in the Chicago scene.
My family is also a great influence, not only from their varied talents and interests, but pointing me to new artists and ideas I would not have otherwise come across.
The countless friends and colleagues I have performed with over the years have greatly influenced me as well. Everyone brings something unique to the table. |
