BACKGROUND

Often do I think of the words of the poet Robert Frost: ‘Two roads diverged in the woods and I — I took the one less traveled, and that has made all the difference.'

At 46, in the middle of an international business career in Africa for a New York bank, then in Central Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall for the U.S. Agency for International Development, I went back to the aspiration of my childhood to pursue peace through the non-judgemental language of music and touching everyone’s emotions. . *** After moving back with my family from Central Africa, I reflected on the poverty, wars, and social injustice that I witnessed over the years, and enrolled in the Western Michigan University Irving S. Gilmore School of Music to focus on composition. I reflected anew on the bike rides of my childhood, meandering from the First World War cemeteries in Flanders, to the World War II cemeteries in the Belgian Ardennes.

The Suite “Of Barbed Wire and Red Roses” for large brass ensemble and timpani is the result of reflections on the civil wars that I witnessed while traveling in Africa. It was recognized with the Irving S. Gilmore Emerging Artist Award. Other awards from the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo Arts Outreach Grant and the Pharmacia and Upjohn Foundation Grant, reinforced the decision to pursue music, to follow the road less traveled. . *** Besides the first Concerto “Imagine New York” Op. 39 for piano and the Oratorio “Requiem for the Fallen” Op. 50 for soprano, choir and orchestra, other orchestral works are the uplifting Concerto for alto saxophone and strings “Springtime in Chicago” Op. 61; the large Cantata “Les larmes de la Terre” (Tears of the Earth) Op. 63; the left-hand piano Concerto Op. 68, “Monde sans paix mais en flammes” (World without peace but in Flames), reflections in music on the never completed journey to peace and the destruction of the environment; and the Opera “Myüno de Gascogne” Op. 47 on war time tragedies and on hope. . ***

As a child, I was not allowed to do music because our parents, still traumatized by memories of WWII, were now enduring the Cold War. They were in tears, trying to feed six children, as the Soviet tanks invaded Hungary (1956) and, later, Czechoslovakia (1969). They were constantly reliving memories of war since the invasion of Belgium early in WWII, and we were now living in the fear of Russian missiles. Scars of war never disappear and may not fade…

Instead of music, I was told to study sciences. I chose a masters in organic chemistry at the University of Brussels and minor in nuclear reactions. But, determined to do music since childhood, I learnt music theory and self taught piano in secret. I practiced the piano mostly at the university and pursued work on a PhD in chemistry. Then I worked several years for an oil company; relocated to the USA, with my American bride; and earned an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Following a decade in NYC and in West Africa, and heading the Africa Division of a New York commercial bank, I joined the faculty of a university in Michigan to teach international business, finance and economics. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, I received a call from the US Agency for International Development in Washington. The job was the oversight of USAID’s programs in Central Europe.

I was moving farther and farther away from music, but these experiences, in particular the years of living in central Africa and talking with the politicians and the business community, led to appreciating how the paths to peace must include mutual respect and cultural understanding to foster trust and maintain the lines of communication. I went back to reflecting on the Arts as a universal language and as tool for understanding and respect. At 46, at long last, I reset my own journey with the support of my family and enrolled in the Western Michigan University Irving S. Gilmore School of Music.

Over the next decades, the compositions would explore respect and peace. Among them: the oratorio ‘Requiem for the Fallen’, honoring the victims of war; the cantata ‘Tears of the Earth‘ about mutual respect and respect for the environment; the dramatic ‘Organ Sonata’ concluding on a solemn Fugue and a Heroic March, as reflections on the tragic September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks; numerous sets of pieces for piano and for brass including the joyful Ragtime ‘Brooklyn Two-Step’; the Concerto for Alto Saxophone ’Springtime in Chicago’ for my oldest grandson, a passionate saxophonist; the piano Toccata ‘Resolve and Pride’ making an anti-war statement; the second piano concerto for the left hand, ‘Monde sans paix mais en flammes’ about the difficulty to establish peace and about the erosion of the environment; and the Opera ‘Myüno de Gascogne’ in French, about tragedies caused by war. These compositions are intertwined with chamber works like the melody for soprano, horn and piano ‘Come Ye Who Love‘; and ‘Yulia’ a cycle of seven songs for soprano & string quartet.

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