Rekindling

I can recognize and accept my age, in a society that quickly judges, can be a hindrance.  In school, my age has shown me how easily and quickly it is to run one's self into the ground.  I remember coming to school with a passion, drive, and energy that could fuel myself and at least four others.  As I began to get more involved and see more success, the passion and drive started to fade.  It was becoming a chore to do the things that I once enjoyed so much.  My flame was diminishing.  Yesterday was the day for rekindling and giving more fuel to my fire.

I had my first "interview" yesterday.  I met with Jim Bassi who sings, accompanies, conducts and composes. The things that I am interested in are what he has managed to be incredibly successful in.  I needed to know how and why.

I quickly learned, through this meeting and one other, that you can do whatever you want to do, so long as you are consistently pursuing it and taking what offers come your way.  The love and dedication for this industry needs to be so strong that it doesn't matter how much work comes your way.  When I asked him how he managed to stay so involved and active in all four areas he said, one thing just opened up another door for something else he was interested in.  Being a reliable person, also, was one thing he was strong about.  Being an accompanist, sometimes people would ask him to play for something that was a few days out and he would have to prepare the accompaniment in a short amount of time.  This is what he meant by one thing kept leading into another.  As a result of his background as a composer, he is able to pick up music quickly, especially vocal music because he understands from a singer's perspective as well, what the idea of the overall piece is.

Dr. Alan Rieck and his wife, Ruth, joined me for this meeting.  The rest of the group was meeting up with Laila Robins, a success actress in the city who graduated from UW-Eau Claire.  Alan and his wife accompanied me and loved it just as much as I did.  A great connection was made between Jim, Alan, Ruth and I.  We discussed somethings that could potentially happen in the future at UW-Eau Claire and I am excited to bring those back with me.

For me, one the most exciting things was having him look at my portfolio.  I looked at some of his pieces to see what he was doing and he, in return, looked at my work.  It was probably the nerdiest meeting ever.  Our meeting, that we originally scheduled for an hour, went for two and a half hours!!! Alan had said it was like two good friends reconnecting after many years apart.  The relationship between the two of us was immediate and genuine.  He gave me great advice and warnings about some writings styles and techniques I'm using that I took to heart.  I am confident in saying that no composer wants to be stuck in the same rut and writing the same material over and over without growing as a musician.  So, his advice was to stay away from sub-dominant cadences a lot (I love my IV add 9), to not leave sections of a piece too early and have them be underdeveloped, and to not contradict myself with ideas.

All in all, it was a great and important connection for me, I believe, to make.  This man has rubbed elbows with James Lepine who has worked with Sondheim and Adam Guettel, grandson of Richard Rodgers of Rodgers and Hammerstein.  This meeting was far more significant that I realize I think and it definitely was what I needed to rekindle my tiring flame.

Andy