My Passion for music

January 16th Concert

I believe this concert marked the first of many to come. I want to thank you all who attended this event for the many kind words of encouragement.  The response I received at this concert was so overwhelming that I have decided to start investing more of my time to composing and performing my music.  

Below is are some photos of the event:

Singers: Linnaea Saemenes and Michelle Knopp with the "High strung string quartet" performing "Love"

The "High strung string quartet" performing my string quartet no. 1

Singers: Michelle Knopp, Tiffani Martin, Dennis Sullavin, and Jonathan Matthew performing the "Alleluia".

Singers: Dennis Sullavin, Tiffani Martin and Kristen Kirkland performing "Oh, the depths of the riches".

As a composer there is nothing more gratifying then having someone approach you after hearing your music being moved to tears, or feeling inspired to better themselves in one way or another. I feel like this is something that God has gifted me with to help people, so therefore it is my responsibility to master this gift to the best of my ability and share it with as many of you as I can.

If you would like an audio copy of the concert, just let me know and I will send you a link to download the full concert.

The Future

Some questions that I have been asked a lot recently have been, "how do you come up with your melodies?", "what goes on in your head while your composing?", "what are some ways that I can learn how to write music?". Whereas the answers to these questions will be different for everybody in one form or another, I think there are many common truths that accompany writing music. The purpose of this blog is to show you all how it is that I go about writing my music. I will take you from conception to completion (as much as can be considered completion - I consider all of my music a lifetime project that will continue to undergo revision until the day I die. So completion is a relative term). 

I am planning another concert for this summer (in July) that will be mainly new compositions that I am going to write between now and the next few months.  In this blog I will take you through my thought process in discovering this music and creating it.  How and why I come up with the melodies that I do, what particular thought process leads me to that melody, and finally, what practical steps you can take to developing this skill for yourself. 

Upcoming Concert program

As I mentioned at the concert, my next project is to put together highlights of my musical, "The Three Misfits" a short story comedy written by Frank Peretti. I also am thinking about writing a piano quintet (which is for piano and string quartet).  Also, I am going to bring back my "Twinkle, twinkle little star variations".  

I would love to get feedback from all of you out there. Send me a note and tell me what you think of this idea!