Performance Last Spring at the Chicago Cultural Center

Music is extremely important to me, because with music I can express my thoughts and emotions in a way that everyone will understand, regardless of language or culture.  Music is a language that everyone speaks.  I love playing the clarinet, because it just makes me feel happy to do so.  It is as if I am transported to another world where I don’t have to worry about anything, and I can just enjoy the wonder of living.  Without music, my life would be a wasteland.  Music is the most important thing in the world to me, because it makes me feel what nothing else can make me feel, and it allows me to tell the world what I think in a very personal way.

Making music with others is an amazing way to learn about people.  In a chamber ensemble, for example, it is enjoyable to see how different people interpret the music in an intimate setting.  Everyone has different ideas about the music and different ways of carrying their ideas out.  It is really interesting to listen to the outcome of a chamber piece, when each voice sounds together in performance.  Playing with an orchestra is a similar, but grander experience.   When I am playing in an orchestra, the sounds of the orchestra pours into me and give me incredibly real thoughts of anger, bliss, depression, depending upon the composer and work of music.  I love playing music with other people.