KDFC has started their Spring Membership Drive, and it reminds me how grateful I am to have grown up with music. I realize not everyone listens to classical music around the clock like I do, but you've certainly heard it if you've ever watched a cartoon or a motion picture. I've even heard classical themes in R&B, Pop, and Rock music. Only a select few know I also grew up with country music, and still love it - especially on the golf course. I listen to French Pop, Jazz, and Big Band. I love Cole Porter, Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin. Classical though, is my anchor.
I grew up playing French horn, mellophone, piano, and handbells with several orchestras. I also played marimba and bass guitar in a Mariachi band, which was great fun. I will never forget my first pit orchestra performance for a stage production of The Unsinkable Molly Brown.
I sang into my late teens, and am a huge fan of the Choir of New College Oxford, Chanticleer, Grace Cathedral's Choir of Men and Boys, and the Tabernacle Choir whose live broadcasts I listened to during the COVID shutdown.
I also love the pipe organ and have toured many of the world's great organs. I still have many on my list to visit. I love receiving texts from friends around the globe with a picture of them in front of pipe organs they stumbled upon that made them think of me.
Music is inspirational. Think about how much a great music score transforms your movie-going experience. John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Ennio Morricone, Bernard Herrmann, and Max Steiner among others have created such memorable scores, it's difficult to imagine the films without them.
Active music-making positively affects neurotransmitters, such as dopamine and serotonin, that influence mood. Dopamine influences focus, concentration, memory, sleep, mood and motivation. Likewise, serotonin impacts mood, sleep patterns, anxiety and pain.
Whatever your favorite genre, please continue to support your favorite artists. Keep attending Coachella, BottleRock, Outside Lands, Stagecoach, and the Monterey Jazz Festival.
Keep making music!
-- Jack
