Hi! I'm an American software developer who lives in Bonn, Germany. I come from Michigan originally, and used to play the French Horn. Here's a picture of me:
Thankfully I’m surrounded by great musicians! My wife, Kimiko, is an active concert pianist, and both of her brothers are superstar musicians as well. I therefore end up hearing a lot of concerts and rehearsals, and occasionally I even get asked my opinion on phrasing, tempo, etc. =)
I also take great pleasure in listening to CDs while I work, and especially enjoy discovering the vast piano and chamber repertoires that I didn’t come to know as a music student. In particular the music of Schubert has become a major force in my life in recent years.
From the time I was 10 years old music was my greatest passion. I was steadily developing a love of classical music in general, and playing french horn turned out to be something I was good at and enjoyed.
Throughout high school and college French Horn was my devotion. All of my activities and ambitions were centered around it, and it was great fun. Of course there were hard work, frustration, anxiety and financial challenges involved as well, but the music makes these all seem worth it.
I acquired 3 university degrees in music before moving to Germany, and once I was in Germany I had a nice career first as a freelancer, and then later as a member of the Bergishe Symphoniker. My activities were very diverse, ranging from playing baroque and classical horn to Wagne tuba in “Der Ring” to musicals such as Saturday Night Fever and Joseph. I was on the road a lot, seeing all of Central Europe, meeting tons of new people. It was fun.
I was also broke all of the time. The money was irregular and never good. Practicing was a source of constant irritation as the neighbors in our apartment weren’t thrilled with an ambitious hornist living amongst them. Furthermore, I didn’t see much room for upward growth. Given my talents and ambitions, it was becoming clear how lush of a future I had in store for me. Worst of all, it had stopped being great fun.
At some point I had accomplished most of the goals that were realistic. I had recorded commercial CDs, I had won an orchestral audition, I had gone on world tours. Somehow I didn’t see a lifetime of development ahead of me, and I slowly lost the ambition to practice, take further auditions, and try to advance my career. It was then that I decided to try doing something else.
When I started discovering the Internet, and reflected fondly upon my days with the Commodore 64 many years before, I decided to give programming a chance. Now I’m a very active contributor for the Drupal project and enjoying my work every bit as much as I did as a musician.
Originally from Jackson, Michigan, I meandered through Ann Arbor and then Bloomington, Indiana, before moving to Germany in 1997. I now live in Bonn, Germany, with my wife, Kimiko.
