Male

I am having the time of my life as the Executive Director of Long Leaf Opera (www.longleafopera.org). How I got here is a rather long story, but here is the gist of it. I have had a life long interest in music and in fact, the very first LP I bought was the complete "Die Meistersinger" by Wagner. This would not be so unusual in its own right, but I was 12 years old and paid for it with the money from my paper route.

As a young bassoonist growing up in Norfolk, I was fortunate to get all the jobs that my teacher did not want and played with the Virginia Beach Symphony, Tidewater Pops, Tidewater Ballet, Old Dominion University Symphony, and more. This was all great experience for me.

When it came time for college, I headed west for the fine music program at the University of North Texas. What a shock that was as there were 14 bassoonists and 1600 music majors enrolled. By my sophomore year, I had the principal chair of the top band and began playing professionally in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, including the Fort Worth Opera Orchestra, Dallas Oratorio Society and others.

This is where is gets interesting: while at North Texas, I joined AFROTC both for the stipend as well as a means to keep away from the draft. I never imagined that the Air Force would call a bassoon major to active duty, but indeed they did and my first assignment was as a munitions supply officer at Seymour Johnson AFB in Goldsboro, NC! Just as I arrived, Goldsboro was organizing a symphony and how lucky it was for me to me named the conductor at 22 years old.

After Goldsboro, I went to Balikeshir, Turkey on a classified assignment and returned stateside to the NORAD HQ in Colorado Springs,. I then got into the flying end of things as a weapons officer with the 7ACCS at Keesler AFB in Biloxi and have many hours flying around the world in a EC-130. It was also in Biloxi that I met my wife, Tammy (22 years and counting) who is presently an anesthetist at Duke University Medical Center.

Many other assignments followed including England, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Italy. My final assignment (1993-95) was as the NATO liaison officer in Sarajevo during the terrible conflict there. My job was to convey NATO's positions to the warring factions, including the Serbs, Bosnians, and Croats. No one told me that I was going to be shot at!

I retired on the very day I was eligible to return to some form of music.

While it was possible for me to do some playing while in the Air Force and was principal bassoonist of the orchestras of Montgomery, Al, and Cambridge,England, there was no desire to play professionally anymore. I had developed an interest in the technology of music and opened a high-end audio store; Hi Notes outside of Macon, Ga. It took me about a nanosecond to realize that retail was not I wanted to do for the rest of my life and left Hi Notes to be president of Spectron Electronics in Los Angeles, a manufacturer of digital amplifiers and licensor of related technology. Following Spectron, I was a partner of Trouvere, Inc, with Burke Mathis (of the old Curtis Mathis) company in Cambridge, Ma.

I was in the throws of forming a new company to manufacture computer sound cards but while preparing for a HR Management class (I have taught various management and ethics classes at NC Wesleyan College since 1999) noticed an ad for the very position I hold today. I nearly fell out of my chair! I have always loved modern classical music and Long Leaf's commitment to this art form is a perfect fit for me.

The ED position pays next to nothing, I have no full time staff, and there is always way too much to do, but what satisfaction I derive!

Besides Long Leaf, I have some time to do things I enjoy. I do a bit of composing and had one of my works presented at the American Dance Festival and have worked myself into a frenzy about learning to play a Heckelphone, which I will order later this year from the good folks at Heckel (www.heckel.de)!