I love music.
I don’t know that I can say much more than that, and truthfully, words can’t do it justice. My love for it grows daily as I learn to understand it even more. Music is constantly growing and changing and showing me new elements that it has to offer. I’m endlessly amazed at how multifaceted music is, how its possibilities are limitless, and how its reach is all-encompassing. With every piece I compose, every piece I arrange or orchestrate, and every new song I learn, I make new beautiful discoveries that touch me in a special way. And while music has always come so easy to me, at times it can be terribly stubborn and difficult. With every student who struggles with pitch, tone, rhythm, or fingering, I remember just how frustrating learning music can be…and yet music is like your three-year-old child who knows just how to push your buttons and make you crazy, but then the next moment gives you a big, warm hug with a sweet kiss and an “I love you” that causes you to melt. Music will always be there to enrich your life and make everything more beautiful, more interesting, more powerful, more emotional, and so much more enjoyable.
Music is so much a part of me that it is impossible to separate us from each other. Music IS me, and I AM music. A few years ago I wrote, “Music flows from my fingers, it consumes my mind, it roams unchecked from my vocal chords, it is the very air I breathe and the energy that allows me to move…I can feel it, like a rushing in my heart, like waves crashing on the sea, like sunlight radiating inside me. It’s like someone’s calling out to me. I have to find a way to answer back, to channel this gift into a way to call back to them.” Right now I feel music pulsing through my fingers after hours of playing, practicing, and composing. I feel it pounding in my head and my heart. I feel it breathing strength and life-giving energy into me at the same time that it pulls everything out of me, leaving me exhausted and yet exhilarated by the experience.
Today, I once again marvel at music and the great love I have for it. Over the past few weeks I have spent countless hours arranging music for my Christmas album, and it’s been a wild ride. I am beyond grateful for this God-given talent, and I thank all of you who allow me to share with you my love for the wonder that is music.
