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Hin und Zurück

Before the advent of the smartphone (remember when?) I never had a camera with me. Ever. So, I'm incredibly thankful to the thoughtful souls who've had one at the right time. Geographically, the locales are as disparate as you could want. But, no matter where I am, the musicians, administrators, and volunteers who make our ensembles and companies run like clockwork will always have my eternal thanks for their work.

Queens College Orchestra

Queens College Orchestra

I am an extraordinarily fortunate musician. I get to work with the orchestras at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, CUNY - ensembles composed of some of the most dedicated, enthusiastic, talented, and hard-working people on the planet.

Jorma

Jorma

I owe Jorma Panula a debt I cannot hope to repay and continue to try and meet the standards he set. He's an astonishing musician and a Finn's Finn. Our time together at Tanglewood, at the Malko Competition in Copenhagen, and in Finland, the Czech Republic, and Russia were some of the most inspiring lessons of my life. That said, and with deep love and respect to all involved, my favorite suggested caption to this was: JP: "That might be a blob of mustard on there, man. Seriously." MP: "Damn."

Fort Worth

Fort Worth

With thanks to Miguel for letting me have the keys to the orchestra for a week! The Texas Ballet Theater, under the artistic leadership of Ben Stevenson, continues to flourish and amaze. Catch a performance any chance you get!

Peter Eötvös in Amsterdam

Peter Eötvös in Amsterdam

Peter Eötvös was kind enough to congratulate me after my debut with the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, the ensemble of which he, along with Ton Koopman, was then music director. He is one of the most complete musicians I have ever known.​

Sound ExChange Project

Sound ExChange Project

Incredibly proud to call six of these eight people my former students and all of them musicians I admire for their creativity, stagecraft, and commitment to sharing the performance experience with as many people as possible. Love what you do!

ARCO performing Hindemith

ARCO performing Hindemith

That's Matthew Loden as our concertmaster, David Garrett our 'cello soloist, Matthew VanBesien is the principal horn, and Phillip Freeman is the trombone soloist. I'll wait while you Google those. This was one incredible concert!

Sound ExChange

Sound ExChange

Emily Wozniak and her incredible colleagues at the Sound ExChange Orchestra in Rochester are helping to define the orchestral ensemble for the 21st century. It was a genuine pleasure to conduct them in a program shared with BioDance for a program of Sibelius and Barber at the Rochester Fringe Festival.

Paul Sperry

Paul Sperry

After the Midwest premiere of Ned Rorem's Poems of Peace in Cleveland.

Tanglewood

Tanglewood

One of my favorite places in the world.

Jorja & Michael

Jorja & Michael

During a Round Top summer with two people who had a very big influence on how I work, to this day. Jorja and Michael are both gone now and missed so very much indeed. Loved these two so much.

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