I started Sharps & Flatirons in 2014 to supplement the writing on classical music that appears under my name in Boulder Weekly . I currently live in Longmont, and have been in the Boulder area since I moved to Colorado in 2009. I am a retired staff member and adjunct assistant professor of music at the University of Iowa.

Photo by Philip Lutgendorf

In addition to writing about music, I play clarinet in community bands in Longmont and Boulder, and in Alamos, a flute-clarinet duo with flutist Martha Ramos, with whom I was in a community orchestra in San Diego in the early 1970s. And of course, I love to hike and ski in Colorado’s incomparable mountains.

I hold a Ph.D. in musicology from Indiana University. Continuing some scholarly activities since retirement, I have been book review editor for the online journal Haydn and Newsletter editor for the Haydn Society of North America. I contributed to the New Grove Dictionary of Music, Czech Music and Notes, among other publications, and wrote an essay on the symphonies of Karl von Ordonez for Vol. I of A. Peter Brown’s series The Symphonic Repertoire (Indiana University Press: 2012). While living in Iowa I became involved in the celebration of Dvorak’s 1893 visit to the state. In 1993 I organized the Dvorak Centennial Symposium at the University of Iowa and assisted the town of Spillville with their celebrations.

For Sharps & Flatirons, I hope to bring you articles about events that there is not enough room for in a weekly newspaper, in addition to  links to the stories in Boulder Weekly (Performance Previews); news about the local classical music scene (Music News); an occasional review of particularly compelling or interesting performances (Performance Reviews); and discussions and perspectives on topics of interest from the wider classical music world (Viewpoints). In covering performances, I will concentrate on Boulder County and environs, although when time allows I will venture outside of that area as well, especially to the Central City Opera and the Santa Fe Opera. I do not promise to be comprehensive in any way. Like all blogs, this will reflect the personal interests, not to say quirks, of the author.

I look forward to hearing any constructive input from members of the vital, sophisticated and passionate audience that we are all fortunate to be part of in Boulder.