Dec 13
My Musical Career|Part Ten In my last blog post, I talked about my summer out at the Aspen Festival in 1973. It was my first sojourn out of New York, and it opened my eyes to the world outside of the Big Apple. I loved Colorado and thought the country out there was just great, …
Nov 14
My Musical Career | Part Nine In my previous blogposts, I wrote quite a bit about Fred D. Hinger, my main percussion instructor and mentor and some of the experiences I had with him at the school. I had four good years working under his tutelage – including a summer at Aspen, Colorado. This was …
Oct 28
My Musical Career|Part Eight I ended my last blog entry in the Leonia, N.J. studio of my teacher and mentor, Fred. D. Hinger. I had many, many hours of superlative instruction from this gentleman. Mr. Hinger was my principal teacher for four years – from the fall of 1971 until June 1975, when I received …
Oct 20
My Musical Career Fred D. Hinger We have come to the point in this blog where I would like to devote some space to one of the most influential people in my career, namely Fred D. Hinger. Mr. Hinger was my second percussion teacher and perhaps the one who was most influential, both during my …
Sep 24
My Musical Career | Part Six As I noted earlier, I began my studies at Manhattan School of Music in September of 1970. While I was excited to be in a totally new learning environment, I was also apprehensive as there was a great deal to be learned, and much that I was totally …
Sep 22
My Musical Career | Part Five At this point in this blog, we have arrived at the point in my life where I had finished my high school education, and was set to embark upon my college career. My college years began in September of 1970, and lasted for almost five years, until I …
Jul 02
My Musical Career – Part Four – From High School to College In my last blog post, I left off at the point where I was at the stage of my education where I needed to apply for and to be accepted into college. By this time, it was pretty clear that I was cut …
May 28
My Musical Career – Part Three 1966 was a seminal year in my musical education – this was the year that I not only entered high school as a freshman, but was involved in all three musical groups that the school offered. The school in question was Yorktown High School, which was completed in …
Apr 30
My Musical Career – Part Two In Part One of this blog, I told you about the very beginnings of my musical career – from my youth and upbringing in the Bronx and more specifically, how my upbringing influenced my choice of career. To recap it briefly, my role as a choirboy in the church …
Apr 30
My Musical Career Many people have asked me over the years how it was that I came to take up the timpani, of all instruments. My answer is always that I was not really by chance as music played a big part in my upbringing. As a matter of fact, you can say that my …
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