My life as a musician began as a journey of self-discovery. You see, I come from a family in which only my great aunt, Ruth, was a hobbyist organist. She and her husband lived down in Pekin, IL during the summer months, which meant that our visits to her home were infrequent. My fascination at her Kimball spinet organ always tugged at me when I would observe her play showtunes.
In our home, the formation of ones musical abilities were not at the forefront of anyone’s radar. My sister, Karen, and I grew up in an environment in which athleticism was the outlet for recreation. Karen eventually attended college on a basketball scholarship. I played tee-ball, Little League, joined a bowling team in junior high, ran track, and raced bicycles. I still take pleasure in long-distance cycling on recreational trails.
My paternal grandparents lived close by us. I would spend many weekends with them at their home in town and get-away house in Edgerton, WI. This predated cable, so my grandparents would often watch PBS. I became enamored with the sounds of the organ and piano from Bob Ralston and Joanne Castle, respectively. I do not think any of my peers even knew who these people were. At the time, there were music stores in malls in which pianos and organs would be displayed outside in the main hallways. Shortly after my ninth birthday, I told my grandmother that I was interested in playing the organ. She agreed to purchase an organ for me on the condition that my parents would pay for the lessons. My parents were amenable to the arrangement, and a Lowry spinet organ appeared in our home shortly thereafter.
I began playing in the manner of Bob Ralston. My grandmother’s favorite song is “Tennesee Waltz”. It was the first song that I memorized, and I can still play it today without a score. At 93 years of age, it is the only piece of music that my grandmother still wants to hear – none of that “long-haired” music for her. My grandparents used to perform roller skate dances to live organ music. I was the relief organist as a teenager and would play from lead sheets to any foxtrot, tango, or the like. The little Kimball spinet proved to be too small for future studies, so my grandparents purchased a Hammond tonewheel organ that had its own Leslie speaker built into the console. It occupied a great deal of space in our living room.
My passion for organ music expanded into the classical genre, much to my grandmother’s chagrin, and towards church music. I would listen to the complete works of J.S. Bach performed by E. Power Biggs. By the age of 12, I was playing several Masses per weekend at my home parish for $20.00 stipend, and at 14 I was accompanying the choir on its pilgrimage to Rome for a Papal Mass. I accompanied my junior high school choirs and registered for choir in high school under the guise that I would accompany them, too. My choir director had other plans. I soon fell equally in love with singing in a choir. Choirs would help me see the world. Our high school choir travelled to Carnegie Hall to perform John Rutter’s Requiem with Orchestra of St. Lukes under the baton of the composer.
In 1998, I assumed my first Director of Music position as a high school senior. I pursued church music and organ performance at Carthage College while studying with Gary Verkade. The four-manual Casavant tracker instrument was well suited to my affinity for J.S. Bach and Buxtehude. The Carthage Choir, the second oldest touring college choir only to that of St. Olaf, toured Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, and France for three weeks in the winter of 2000. I began to wonder whether I should pursue choral music education or church music for my profession. Why not both? I continued my organ studies and further earned a Master’s degree in choral conducting from Northwestern under the tutelage of Robert Harris. My teaching assignments have included Deerfield High School, New Trier High School, Prospect High School, and now at Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart in Lake Forest, IL. I have overseen church music programs in as far north as Wisconsin and south as Glen Ellyn, IL.
Fast-forward to today: I have been playing the organ for 31 years, a church musician for 28 years, and a high school choral music educator on the North Shore for 18 years. I have been enriched by wonderful music making in some pretty spectacular performance venues. Each job opportunity has cultivated life-long friendships that I treasure dearly. Where are you sure to find me? Behind an organ console or on a conducting podium. As my undergraduate choral education professor used to say, “I am pretty lucky to be getting paid for something that I would gladly do for free.”