Musix4me was created for you, the avid, always-creating, music-loving performer. To understand what I mean by that, let me explain my path to this point. I think my motivation may become more apparent.

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I grew up as a lower-middle-class Navy brat in Virginia Beach, Virginia. I was lucky enough to be able to get a Bundy clarinet and start playing in the summer of my 5th-grade year. My father had given me a cassette tape of the New York Philharmonic playing Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 and the famous Robert Marcellus recording of the Mozart Concerto—I wore that out. I was also lucky enough to meet and hear Al Ascercion that summer, a clarinetist from the Philippines who joined the US Navy and had made a name for himself in the area as a soloist and conductor.

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Being in a school band in Virginia Beach in the mid-1980s was a blessing we may not have fully understood at the time. The marching bands were very competitive and active. The wind ensembles competed at grade 6 levels (think Festive Overture, Candide, Capriccio Espagnol, and works by Chance, Reed, and Hindemith). Many of the 1st or 2nd chairs in the All-State Band were from Virginia Beach. Scott Andrews, principal clarinet of the St. Louis Symphony, and I studied with the same clarinet instructor, Edward Knakal.

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There was also a vibrant Solo and Ensemble assessment each year, where students would prepare solo and chamber music pieces to be judged by professional musicians for individual awards. I was privileged to perform every year with solo and chamber music pieces.

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I won my school's "John Philip Sousa Award" during my senior year and was invited to play a solo with my high school band. Inspired by Al Ascercion's recordings, I performed Verdi's Rigoletto.

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I took a few years off working as an assistant manager at AMC theaters before deciding to return to music and pursue my music education degree at Shenandoah Conservatory with Dr. Stephen Johnston. While at Shenandoah, I was able to perform a recital each year to include solo and chamber music pieces. In my junior and senior years, I was privileged to perform Weber's Concertino and Debussy's Premiere Rhapsodie with the Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble, respectively.

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In the spring of my senior year at Shenandoah, I auditioned for Franklin Cohen at the Cleveland Institute of Music. A graduate from the Paris Conservatory auditioned before me and totally blew me away (this was before YouTube). I felt like a fool and resigned myself to teaching.

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I taught for a year at a private Catholic school before deciding that I wanted to pursue my Master of Music degree. Again, fortune shined on me, and I was accepted to a Woodwind Quintet Fellowship at the University of Missouri at Kansas City to study with Dr. Jane Carl. It was a fantastic two years with a tremendous teacher and woodwind quintet. I was lucky enough to play two full recitals and many quintet performances. I was able to play the Brahms Clarinet Quintet, the Mozart Kegelstatt Trio, Brahms's Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano, the Copeland Concerto, and a slew of standard high-level quintet pieces like Barber's Summer Music, Hindemith's Kleine Kammermusik, Nielsen's Quintet, and Ligeti's Sechs Bagatelles. I was again honored to play Weber's Concertino with the symphony orchestra.

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Leaving with my Master's degree and new wife, I moved to Roanoke, Virginia, and took over the Band and Orchestra director's job at Ruffner Magnet Junior High School. I also began substituting with the Roanoke Symphony. Four years and a divorce later, I decided to pursue my Doctorate of Musical Arts back at Shenandoah University. I auditioned and was accepted. (It was close to Dr. Johnston's retirement, and I had hoped I was positioning myself for a possible job. It was not to be.) 

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Again, I was lucky to have many performance opportunities, including two full recitals with a regular trio ensemble and Mozart's Clarinet Quintet. When putting my recitals together, Dr. Johnston once commented, "You don't like doing things the easy way, do you?" I was always seeking to play ensemble pieces that featured the clarinet, and scheduling groups of busy musicians for enough rehearsals can be a nightmare. Nevertheless, we made them work.

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The war on terror was in full swing after the attacks on 9-11, and I was approaching 35 years of age. That was the cut-off age for enlisting in the Army, which was, at the time, offering $65,000 in school loan repayment for serving. I completed my coursework and only had my lecture recital and document to complete my degree. I joined the Army with the idea of returning to complete my Doctorate after serving. Again, it was not meant to be.

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I auditioned for the Field Band at Fort Meade and made it to the finals. Unfortunately, I was told that my timbre would not blend with the group and was rejected. Fortunately, the audition was strong enough to automatically qualify me for the next tier command band level. After BASIC training, I was off to the US Army School of Music at Little Creek, back in Tidewater, Virginia, where I grew up! While at the school of music, I was asked to play Weber's Concertino as Navy, Marine, and Army conductors auditioned using the school of music band. After school, I was sent to Fort Monroe to join the Training and Doctrine Band (TRADOC).

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While at Fort Monroe, I was privileged to play with many strong musicians and great people. I was allowed to sit principal and even soloed with the group on tour in Florida (see image above). We had numerous chamber groups and opportunities to play. I was even invited to play solo during a gazebo performance in the summer. Later, I was sent to South Korea. I was the principal of that group as well.

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After the Army, I needed a job and took a last-minute position as an elementary music school teacher. I had never imagined being an elementary school teacher, but it became the love of my life. The kids were fantastic, and even though we constantly complained about scheduling and resources, we did have a decent situation. I dug deep into my Sibelius Music Notation software to create teaching resources. During this dive, I also began making accompaniments to play with. While I did have sporadic opportunities with the Roanoke Symphony, I did not get to play much. I missed it.

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Over the next ten years, a lot of life happened, and there were few live performances. I taught clarinet to high school and middle school students, but that was the most I could do with it. There was a solo performance or two with the middle and high school bands, but nothing consistent.

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As life would have it, my mother passed, and I have moved back with my elderly father and my brother with Down syndrome as a caregiver. I've been given some time to reflect, and I am grateful to have been blessed with a life of music. I have been extremely fortunate to have many solo and chamber music performances over the years, and I want you to share some of that. [Note: My father passed away on February 14th, 2025. Now, I only take care of my brother.]

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Since I cannot work outside of the home, I have decided to create Musix4me as an outlet and opportunity to help you, the creative, have at least a sample of the many great opportunities I have been afforded. I want you to have the chance to experience the great works and casual pieces alike. And for the serious player looking for resources to help you prepare and explore, I also want Musix4me to be that for you.

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I do not have a multi-million dollar budget to hire musicians and studios to create the accompaniments. I also cannot afford to pay the licensing fees required to create accompaniments of current and popular works. I make each one from the free public domain that dates back hundreds of years. If you want more current works, try the excellent site TomPlay, which is linked below.

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You and I can never play every piece available from history in our musical genres. But maybe, together, we can make a reasonable effort to get through as many as possible. How about it?

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P.S. To hear me play, click the center of the clarinet on the homepage. 

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