Tuesday, September 23

School is in its third week and you may feel like one of those on the boat in the picture. Things can get pretty hectic. Being a music major can be pretty tough at times.

As you know, I was gone a few days last week to attend the funeral of my nephew. He was 27 and had the unique experience of living all of his life knowing that he could die suddenly at any time. He had an extremely rare condition known as Loes/Dietz (I'm sure the spelling is incorrect) Syndrome. It's a condition where the walls of your blood vessels and arteries deteriorate creating aneurisms and tears. In his lifetime, he had four open heart surgeries and numerous other surgeries. As you can imagine, he was a courageous person. Even up to the time he died, he kept his sense of humor, cracking up the family, doctors and nurses. He had the good fortune to be married to a wonderful girl for five years who stood by his side during all of his health crises. It's a great lesson to me to live life more fully and appreciate all of the blessings I have.

Natalie Morgan

Natalie is in my Music 195 class. She is a piano major from Tulsa, Oklahoma and comes from a family of six. She is a humanities major with a music emphasis. Her dad supervises the Tulsa MetLife offices. She likes to read, chat with friends, sleep, and watch an occasional movie. Her favorites movies include School of Rock and Better of Dead. Her favorite books are Harry Potter and The Princess Bride. (Prepare to Die!) she loves anything that is deep-fried and she loves Nutella. He hopes to attend graduate school and major in art history. She has the unique feature of her big toes being different in size. She went on study abroad to Italy during the spring.

Dan Johnson

Dan is one of my private students majoring in piano performance. He is from Pleasant Grove, Utah and is from a family of six. His father is a retired chiropractor and current does web design. His mother is a booking agent and music teacher. Dan served a mission in the Texas Houston East mission. He loves to exercise. His favorite movie is A Little Princess. His favorite book is Think and Grow Rich so you might want to be a good friend! His favorite food is tostadas. After he graduates, he hopes to compose, arrange accompany, perform teach and record. He enjoys playing and composing music in all styles.

Sarah Inouye

Sarah is a piano performance major. She is also teaching group piano classes this year on campus. She is from Gunnison, Utah, and is one of 8 children. Sarah served a mission in the Cincinnati Ohio Spanish Speaking Mission. Her dad is a family physician. She likes outdoor activities and any kind of a project. Two of Sarah's favorite movies are Emma and Shawshank Redemption. Her favorite book is The Brothers Karamazov. She loves Thai and Japanese food. After she graduates, she wants to start her own piano studio and teach introductory music classes for children 3 to 7 years olds using the ORFF approach. She's says that one thing that is unique about her is that she was run over by a car. Ouch!

Stephanie Messick

Stephanie is in my Music 470/670 class. She is from Bountiful, Utah and is majoring in piano performance. She comes from a family of seven that includes four sisters. Her dad works for the aerospace industry and her mom is a piano teacher. She served a mission in the England Leeds mission. She likes to read, run, hike, listen to music and be with family and friends. She loves jazz piano. One of her favorite movies is August Rush. One of her favorite books is Pride and Prejudice. She's a big fan of Cafe Rio and might go to law school or business school after she graduates. She did a study abroad in London and her sister Christene is also a piano performance major.

Laura Phipps

Laura is in my Music 195 class. She is from California and is majoring in piano performance. She comes from a family of 12. Her dad is a dentist and her mom teaches piano. She loves pot roast and mashed potatoes. Her favorite movie is Empire of the Sun and her favorite books are the Harry Potter series. After graduation, she plans on teaching piano. Laura has the unique skill of being able to roll her stomach.

September 8, '08

I don't know if you've noticed, but the colors are changing at the tops of the mountains so you know what that means. My Arizona blood is already protesting the coming cold. Since I can't ski any more, winter just doesn't seem as much fun! Unless of course I can get down to St. George for a little golf.

I'm so excited about the students I have in my classes. Every year, you just seem to be smarter, quicker and better looking too! And it has nothing to do with my getting older. I hope you're all enjoying the classes as much as I am. Please comment about how you feel about the class you are in as we move forward.

I've been working with the GFC Foundation who has provided piano four scholarships in the name of Dr. Reid Nibley who was the artist in residence here for many years with the piano faculty. He was a remarkable person and musician. The foundation is producing a hour long documentary on his life which will be aired on KBYUTV in the future. Today, I was able to watch the rough cut of the film and was so pleased to see how well our students and former students are represented on it. I hope you'll watch for when it comes out. You'll enjoy it as it captures what it means to be an LDS musician and music student.