New Review
Reader Views Book Reviews has given “Musical Chairs” a 5 Star review, meaning it is a highly recommended read.
“This musical adventure is unique (and) compelling….he delivers his story with aplomb and wit.”
The Launching of Musical Chairs
In July, a book launch party was held in the Atrium of the Longmont Museum in my hometown of Longmont, Colorado.
About 130 people gathered to enjoy the canapes and beverages as they were serenaded by the Front Range Brass Company, a quintet playing selections from Handel, Mussorgsky, Purcell, and Moreau.
A trumpet fanfare called everyone to take a seat as Gene Hayworth, author, translator, and proprietor of Inkeberry Books, made his introduction.
I then read part of the opening chapter and excerpts from the chapter on the violin, before answering a slew of questions from the audience. Sales of the book were brisk, and I enjoyed signing copies and visiting with what seemed to be an enthusiastic crowd.
When will Musical Chairs be in book stores?
The book is available in independent book stores through distribution by Baker and Taylor, the second largest book distributor in the U.S. If it is not in stock, your local bookseller can order it, or you can order it here by clicking the Order Now button on the home page for shipping right away.
You can also order online at amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com
Colorado Book Tour Schedule
I I started a book tour last fall in Colorado book stores and libraries, to read parts of the book and have a nice Q&A afterwards. The schedule is on the Book Tour page and everyone is welcome, whether or not you have read the book.
Kindle edition
If you prefer to read books on devices, Musical Chairs is available on kindle through amazon.
Podcast
I was interviewed for the podcast The Nuts and Bolts of Writing, and you can listen to it at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvd4C7fSOawTalthFUirt-iRNtxKPANfWxx
It goes into why I waited until I was 76 to start writing a book; whether age made it easier or harder; did having five careers make me a kind of Renaissance Man, or a drifter; could I have written about learning eleven other somethings, such as languages; did the book change me in any significant way; and other topics.
Conducting in Edinburgh, Scotland
While in Edinburgh last summer, I was invited to attend a rehearsal of Alexander MacCall Smith’s RTO (Really Terrible Orchestra), following a two year correspondence about a chapter on them in the book. Little did I know that they had a surprise in store for me and that was to actually conduct the orchestra. With a brief introduction to the musicians, the real conductor, Michael Graham, handed me his baton and sat down.
I proceeded to do my best imitation of a maestro, complete with waiting for silence, making eye contact before the first downbeat, and managing to get through the Colonel Bogey March with gusto and mental images of scenes from The Birdge on the river Kwai. The orchestra actually followed my lead and everyone ended at the same time! A wee dram followed at a local pub, and I have been invited back; definitely to the pub and maybe even to the podium.
Playing the Alphorn in the mountains
Michael Robert Thornton, Principal French Horn with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Colorado Symphony, joined me in serenading the wildlife and some boaters on Grand Lake, Colorado. We played some Brahms, he very well and me with a lot of enthusiasm, and a haunting duet of Amazing Grace. It is said that one day while walking in the mountains, Brahms heard a distant shepherd playing a tune on his alphorn, and jotted down the melody which he later used in the fourth movement of his Symphony #1.
