Picture this: Iâm walking through a bustling public square or a concert hall intermission over in Portugal, and right there in front of everyone, I lower myself down into a deep, perfectly still 10-minute horse stance. Naturally, people stop dead in their tracks. They stare, smile, and eventually someone wanders over to ask the obvious question:  ...
Over my lifetime, I have attended hundreds of concerts and showsâand I can still remember the exact years for roughly 95% of them! From seeing Santana open for Eric Clapton in 1975 to watching KISS at the Jacksonville Coliseum in 1976 and attending around 140 Broadway shows, live performances have always nourished my soul. One memory that stands out ...
Back in 1986, I was on a very different trajectory. I was seriously studying political science, planning to pursue a master’s degree, and traveled to New York City to attend a major political science convention. 5 While in the city, I went to the observation deck at the top of the World Trade Center. 5 Standing up there, looking down at the vast ...
People often ask why I hold a horse stance for ten minutes in a public placeâor why, at my age, I continue practicing the kind of physical discipline most people abandoned decades ago. It may look like a quirk or even a stunt. But for me, it has never been about intensity or ego. It is about presence. It is about developing a body and mind that cont ...
I want to share something with you, and I truly hope it doesnât come across as bragging. That is not my intention at all. Iâm simply so incredibly grateful for how I feel right now that I canât help but share it. This morning I walked around my yard â nothing dramatic, just a couple hundred feet â then came inside and played the piano for about ten ...
Another profound influence on my musical development was my teacher, Dr. Yessin, whose training was part of a remarkable lineage of great pianists and teachers. Through generations of mentorship, Dr. Yessinâs musical heritage traces back through teachers whose own teachers ultimately studied with a student of Franz Liszt, one of the greatest pianist ...
One of the most memorable experiences of my piano studies was turning pages for my teacher, Dr. Yesin, during several of his piano recitals. Sitting just inches from the keyboard, I followed the score and turned the pages at exactly the right moment while he performed. From that seat beside the piano I could watch every movement of his hands and he ...
One of the greatest lessons of my life came from my mother. Almost three decades ago, I encouraged her to join the YMCA, and what she did afterward left a lasting impression on me. For nearly twenty years, she woke up at 5:30 every morning, five days a week, to go exercise. It didnât matter if it was cold, dark, or inconvenientâshe simply got up an ...
Over the past 10 years, I’ve lost 45 pounds through consistent, mindful changes to how I move and eat. Today, I’m wearing the same size 30 pants I wore 50 years ago. For the last couple of months, my resting heart rate has often been around 50 bpmâa sign of strong cardiovascular fitness. Two weeks ago, my bloodwork showed triglycerides ...
In the coming months, I plan to move to Portugal. I’m incredibly excited for a new chapter in my life. I’m told (and I believe) that people there â especially in the expat and local communities â will appreciate my musical heritage deeply. Portugal has a rapidly growing interest in classical piano lessons, and with my experience teaching ...