Music has been my life since young childhood. My parents were musicians, Mom was an accomplished violinist, my older sister and I have degrees in music, and all of us 6 learned at least one instrument and sang in church choirs. I was a minister of music for 25 years, and enjoyed the variety of venues that are possible in churches. I'm now retired, but I still play the piano and lead worship for the Sunday evening service. I have a small grand piano that feels abandoned. My piano technician died recently from an out of the blue heart attack, so I may be doing more of the maintenance of the piano. Not my favorite job.

One of my cousins studied and practiced music therapy for many years. I had the joy (mostly joy) of teaching many piano students, from age 5 to 90. I love hearing from them as they pursue their own careers in music.

In my own experience, music meant a lot to me professionally, playing various instruments, directing choirs of all ages and abilities, writing music for whatever instruments happened to be available, and directing music departments. I think the most pleasure I receive is in playing the piano in front of appreciative audiences, who don't hear a lot of acoustic music anymore. I think my favorite church service is Christmas Eve, when we sing carols and read Scripture. And I get to play for it.

Jim