In The Studio

My work station is an altered antique piano, with Brass Dragon Candelabra, shipped with my grandfather’s family from Wales, at the turn of the 19th century.  Perhaps there’s some of the Welsh dragon blood in mine… My lovely Steinway grand is also an antique, brought from Rochester, NY, formerly belonging to a much loved & notable Piano Teacher. 

I begin with a concept or lyrics in my head, then develop the melodic, rhythmic & harmonic lines at the keyboard. As some of my favourite composers:  Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Puccini, R. Vaughan-Williams, Debussy along with Canadians Joni Mitchell and Jazz Pianist, David Braid, have extended the harmonic spectrum of sound colour to use dissonance and unusual voicings, I tend to explore this frontier. I don’t want to be confined to the traditional four chord patterns used in most popular music stylings.  I’m enjoying discovering the tonal qualities of resonance which may help in healing with vibrational energy. This is a path in which I’m pursuing.  As all life forms resonate on a cellular level, it is my understanding that with intention and coherent regulation of vibrational energy, coherence and clarity of living systems can be restored.  

In a time such as this, and as in times before, when mankind descends to levels of inhumanity and victimizes different peoples, in struggles of power and control, we all need forms of art, music and prayer to overcome the dissonance in the world which surrounds us. It is my hope that through writing music, I may help to restore some balance.