Those must have been heady days for you. Oh my
god...It was amazing to be in the theatre
and on stage with them. I would sit on the far side of the piano turning pages, it was so fascinating to see those artists from behind and watch the audience reactions to them. The way they were backstage, versus how they transformed when they stepped on stage was always very interesting, too. It also gave me the opportunity to work with wonderful composers, instrumentalists and singers. I learned so much and got really solid technical training, as well. You were pursuing piano performance primarily at that point, correct? I was performance primarily, yes...But I was composing also. It was during my undergraduate work that I realized I probably had more to say as a composer than as a pianist. I continued to perform and did so with other singers every now and then and I still do. When I finished out undergraduate, seven of us composers, formed a group called The Lo Cal Composers and we produced our own concerts and compositions. We would do two or three a year and would call on all of our old friends who had been instrumentalist, to work with us. The big shift for me though was that I lost the
use of my right hand in the late ‘80s, when I was in my 20s, through what’s called a focal dystonia. Basically, when I would play, my fingers would curl and so I had to stop playing the piano. I stopped writing music at that point too, because I fell into a depression and sort of went through a very dark period. It must have been such a devastating, defining moment in your life. It was. There was also a great deal of other personal stuff happening at that time, as well. That’s when I moved into arts administration, I got a job at the UCLA Center for the Arts in their PR depart-
moby dick
end of the affair
ment as a writer for the company. I eventually moved to San Francisco where I got the PR job with the San Francisco Opera. By then, my hand was coming back so it felt like a brand new day when I moved up here. (Laughs) I read a bit about your rehab process, it was very intensive. Yeah, it really was.
I find it interesting how much personal chal- lenges give an artist a certain perspective on the world and how it offers them a space to under- stand the depth necessary to communicate creatively. That’s so true. I really had quite a lot of tragedy
early on in my life: from my father’s suicide to the whole coming out process, which for me was very belabored, long and difficult. It was also right around the same time that I lost the use of my hand. I was also married at the time to my piano teacher who was much older than I was and she developed cancer right at that time too. It was really difficult for me to figure out where I was supposed to be and what I was supposed to do. San Francisco was really a big breakthrough, I became immersed in the culture and musical world up here and it welcomed and embraced me. I’ve felt at home here ever since, creatively and personally. I read about how you became composer in residence for the San Francisco Opera, it’s an amazing story. It really is kind of a Cinderella tale. It was very strange for sure and not your usual
career path. (Laughs) It wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been there at the right time and if there hadn’t been a true empresario like Lofti Mansouri
MAY 2016 | RAGE monthly 29
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