I’m a musician, composer and, as of Fall 2016, an M.A. student in Ethnomusicology at York University. I love all sorts of music but my recent in-depth research interests include brass bands, samba, ska & reggae, jazz and “third stream” (classical-jazz hybrid).
This blog is primarily about sharing the awesome music I continue to engage with on a daily basis, leaving the reader with recommendations that are fun and meaningful: music with “substance” much like the fibre we intake as part of our nutrition!
I’ll also write about my adventures in the world of music, as well as various thoughts that come up along the way. It’s about nurturing and exploring my own musical creativity and inspiring others along a similar path.
Before moving to Toronto for grad studies, I went back to school as an undergrad to pursue my dream of becoming a professional composer and music professor. Although I’m still composing, since starting at York I’ve switched academic streams to ethnomusicology, which is the cultural study of music.
In addition to composition (with Owen Underhill) at SFU in Vancouver, I studied electronic music, gamelan and interdisciplinary collaboration. I also got back into playing saxophone in an original contemporary music ensemble, which I co-founded at the school, that emphasized improvisation and “open form” compositions. In the summer of 2016 I discovered the joy of community/activist brass ‘street’ bands, starting with Carnival Band in Vancouver and continuing in Toronto with both The Kensington Horns (directed by Richard Underhill) and Street Brass (directed by Christopher Butcher).
I have an undergraduate degree in Music Performance (saxophone) but, after several years of playing professionally, I stopped altogether in 2005 – and even sold my beloved horns! – and I’m not sure I’ve ever been able to adequately explain why (or even know fully myself). But that is in the past…
New adventures have begun and I’m eager to share with those who’ll lend an ear.
Aural Fibre 