Back On Schedule

August 30, 2016
School commences! After three months of reduced work commitments and one month of none whatsoever, I was obligated to report to Poly Prep Lower School at 9:00 am on Monday for orientation. Today was the introduction for the new Head of School at the upper campus, and after a few rocky years within the board and administration, it felt like a greatly needed fresh start for the faculty. Audrius Barzdukas delivered a passionate and inspiring speech on the nobility of teaching and moved an audience that has been bracing for this transition with deserved skepticism. Hopefully, as he put it,…

Sweetness

July 26, 2016
Summer is accelerating quickly! We have been Capeside for our annual 4th of July family weekend, bigger and greater than ever with the two newest Taylors, Miles and Julian. We spent a weekend camping in Vermont, had some friends to The Land, and enjoyed some pool and beach time in Bellport. We are headed up to Lake George on Thursday for a reprise of last year's raucous weekend with 20 of our closest friends, then a wedding and a week in Maine. And so soon, in a short paragraph, my Summer is complete. But these few sentences don't really do…

Brentrance and Brexit

June 27, 2016
I woke up this morning in my Brooklyn bed for the first time in 10 days. It was 4:00 am when Ivy rolled in, roaring to start her day before the sun rose (acknowledging it from our bedroom window - Look Dada! So beautiful! - when the sky began its awesome daily hue evolution), experiencing the easy side of jet lag and its 5 hour shift from the previous week and a half in England... The impetus of the trip was cousin Piera's wedding, which was an absolutely stunning camping party at a farm in Devon. While we were granted…

Doing What I Love To Do

June 6, 2016
  These Summer weekends are extraordinarily delightful! Friday night was a rare mommy & daddy date night, seeing a musical we have been anticipating for years, Anais Mitchell's "Hadestown", which delivered a powerful and haunting score to accompany the myth of Orpheus' journey to the Underworld to save his love, Eurydice. Amazing performances and universal themes always make great art. Saturday morning we headed out to Bellport for some high-quality R&R with family and friends. Farm strolling, pool swimming, sailing, beaching, BBQ, and civil discussions about politics and futurism are all excellent ways to while away my weekends and I…

Harmonica

June 2, 2016
  I got five harmonicas recently and remembered what a fun and easy instrument it is. I learned the basics about 20 years ago with a Klutz book and tape (!), and have just rediscovered why I love it so much. Straight from the lungs and always in key makes it a powerful complement to any piece.

Summer ’16!

May 31, 2016
Summer is here! Memorial Day weekend ushered in a period of less work and more play for me. Many of the hours I devoted to teaching from September-May will be spent with my family now and this past weekend was the kickoff, driving North to spend time with Maine Taylors, including my newest nephew, Julian, while taking in a Portland Sea Dogs baseball game, eating at The Honey Paw, playing on swingsets, jungle gyms and running through sprinklers. We stayed one night in Newton with my parents in my always comforting childhood home and one night with my sister in…

Flow

May 16, 2016
Driving on the BQE with my family yesterday, I heard the end of a TED Radio hour on NPR and some quotes from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, which I found very intriguing. He is a psychologist who has written extensively on a concept he refers to as "Flow"; describing it as losing oneself in an activity through complete focus and intrinsic motivation. I found it fascinating because I know exactly what he means and I feel it regularly when I compose music. Whenever I am able to fully concentrate on creating music, I have no other cares or desires; it is everything…

Indiana

May 3, 2016
  Trump is mean. He is a racist, sexist bully and he is now the Republican candidate for President. I have been horrified to watch his ascent and I am truly sad and scared that so many people in this country that I love support him. Please, America, don't let fear and hate scare you into voting for this character. Make America Great Again? We are now and have always been so much greater than this disgusting persona. Choose Compassion. Embrace Love. Be Good.

My Kind of Friday

April 29, 2016
I love babysitting. Alaina is seeing The Crucible tonight, so I had the pleasure of putting the kids to bed by 8, then enjoying a quiet house for a few hours, spent making music and watching David Ortiz blast a Game-Winning HR against the Yankees. A perfect Friday night for the old man. This is tonight's production, which I truly loved creating.