I find it fascinating to watch music travel across a screen while my computer plays it to me.

Even better is teaching my computer to play the music - helping it to highlight fascinating little tidbits hidden away in the tangles of a complex passage, or uncovering a soft and simple idea, then gradually embellishing it with more and more ideas till it grows into a grand fortissimo.

Best yet is polishing something until my computer can play it beautifully, then printing it out, passing the parts out to my musical friends, and rehearsing this gem till we can play it far better than any computer!

My website is an attempt to share some of these first two experiences with you. To hear the live music, you'll need to find some live musicians. But that shouldn't be difficult for you. We'd all love for you to come hear us!

Here you'll find links to a few musical ideas I've been playing with: some original compositions of mine, as well as some arrangements, orchestrations, or enhancements I've done of other people's public domain works.

The background image behind these words is the opening passage from Mozart's "Dissonant" String Quartet, which might give you a quick first impression of the type of music represented here: classical primarily, seasoned with some ragtime and perhaps other lighthearted inclusions.
 
 

In passing, I'd like to mention that I'm a member of various performing groups which are available for various types of events, just about anywhere in Southwest Utah or northern Arizona.

The smallest is the Double-V Ensemble, which centers around Dr. Virginia Stitt (of Southern Utah University) and myself. We play anything from Pachelbel's famous Canon to Bach double concertos to some Scott Joplin ragtime. Instrumentation is a violin or two, 2 violas, 2 flutes, oboe, English horn, bassoon (sometimes 2 bassoons), and either piano or electronic keyboard (depending upon whether you have your own piano). The catch is that you only get three of these instruments at any one moment.

The next largest is the Southwest Symphony String Ensemble (which rehearses in St. George, but we all have automobiles). Our size varies, but we usually number around 14 violinists, violists, cellists and bassists. We principally perform classical music like Bach and Mendelssohn, but we also maintain a nice repertoire of show tunes, fiddle tunes, and surprises.

The next is the Symphony of the Canyons, which rehearses in Kanab, Utah, but performs as far afield as Page, Panguitch, Hurricane, and the Grand Canyon (north rim only). Our orchestra has regular members from far-flung reaches near Bryce, Zion, and Grand Canyons, hence our name. Fancy a bright march or some nice Duke Ellington? Or stick around till the summer of 2000, and attend a production of The Wizard of Oz, with the Symphony of the Canyons as your pit orchestra.

Or perhaps you're thinking of some grand event, but you can't quite afford the Utah Symphony? How about the Southwest Symphony? We're made up of professional and semi-professional musicians, some of the top music educators in the southern part of the state, plus a number of dedicated and gifted amateur musicians. We're not the Utah Symphony, but we are an excellent semi-professional orchestra.