Are you a Canadian musician trying to navigate your way through the sometimes complex world of grant applications to fund your projects? It can be a daunting process…I know! But thanks to the collective work with my wife and manager, Lisa Horvat, we have been fortunate to receive a number of grants over the years […]
Other than composing, playing and teaching music, I also LOVE listening to music! Any and all styles, I’m always interested in discovering new things. In recent years as Spotify has come along, I appreciate their playlists where you can basically make “mix tapes” on various themes. It’s also interesting to see how my own music […]
This past week, I heard of the passing of famed photographer, Frank Horvat, at the age of 92. I came upon Mr. Horvat’s work back in the 1990s when I googled myself (I know…that’s vain). Having just started my professional music career, there was not much content online about me, however there was much to […]
Here are some things that I find very concerning… The unemployment rate in the US got to a record high of 14.7% when the pandemic began.1 Since then it has fallen to 7.9% yet millions of Americans continue to not be able to find a job.2 Meanwhile, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos saw his net worth […]
Since the COVID pandemic began, I’ve been racking my brain in trying to come up with new ideas about how I should be functioning in this new reality of musical life. I feel grateful to have conceived and been facilitating the Music for Self-Isolation project, but I still feel that our music community could use […]
Sigh…self-criticism has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. Being a musician isn’t exactly the best type of pastime to avoid such a mental activity. Like many aspiring musicians, being critical of myself was part of my daily routine. When you’re trying to master something, it is near impossible to […]
The title is actually a direct question I would appreciate your perspective on. I have had an Instagram account for a while now. But I have never posting anything there. Yet, people are posting performances of my music, often exclusively, there so I feel compelled to be more engaged. Here’s the latest vid, a beautiful […]
It doesn’t take much to get off course from important life habits. As disciplined as I tend to be, I’m also prone to getting off course with important everyday things. That’s not to say that I stopped completely, but I just haven’t been doing these important things as much as usual. Example 1, going for […]
Hanging pictures or artwork in your home is such a common activity that makes you feel, well…more at home. My home is also my work and creative space so it’s fitting that what I place on the walls in this space also represents that part of my life. A bunch of months ago, I realized […]
This past week, Lisa and I got away to a nice Airbnb in Ontario’s farming communities that make up Norfolk County. Rest and relaxation was at the top of our priory list for such a vacation. When we started 2020, there were many grand plans in the works for travel this year: June in Quito […]
Being a strict follower of the Paleo diet, grains are strictly forbidden from entering my body. Because of my Crohns Disease, I have always avoided any wheat products and even rice in order to maintain peak digestive health. Basically I eat a lot of vegetables, fruit and some meat…that’s all! I know, it sounds pretty […]
When the COVID Pandemic began in earnest earlier this spring here in Toronto, I was inundated with a plethora of postponements, cancellations and uncertainties. I was also concerned for my music colleagues who were almost overnight faced with grave concerns for their livelihood. All I could think of doing to ease my own unease and […]
The whole point of having a blog is to share my thoughts and feelings and have people read them. So I’m not doing a good job of that if I pick topics to write about that people don’t want to think about. But for this post, I’ll do it anyway…the second wave of COVID-19. If […]
During the Pandemic, I am so grateful that I have been able to stay busy. Despite the shutdowns and isolation, I actually feel like it’s been even more busy than usual working on a number of great creative projects. Thanks to technology, I have also been able to continue to see most of my students […]
One of the parts of my music-making that I’m very passionate about is recording. I have been very fortunate in my music career to produce and release 11 albums of my compositions. Collaborating with talented and kind-hearted people is an important part of my life routine. 2020 was destined to be similar to all the […]
