 As a pianist and professional musician, I use my full name. As a composer, I use just my middle and last names, and in everyday life, for obvious reasons, I sign my name "D.G. Bowie."I received twelve years of private piano lessons in my youth, played church organ during college, and have played piano for hotels, restaurants, weddings, and private parties for the past thirty years. I also collect and archive printed piano music; presently my library consists of more than 500 books, and 3000 pieces of sheet music. My database and card file of titles exceeds 13,000, but another 15,000 remain as "unobtained." Original melodies and improvisations first visited me at the piano when I was twelve. Most of my early melodies were lost to memory before I could write them down. Fifteen years ago, the personal computer and MIDI software made it possible to save most of my composing. At present, I have hundreds of original improvisations stored on my computers, dating back fifteen years, all of which await my attention. New melodies arrive weekly or monthly. Revising and editing them into finished recordings and fixed in print is where most of the time and effort are spent. Creating and performing piano music gives me a keen sense of purpose. I'm often thrilled and moved by what I hear, which convinces me that I must share these melodies and not hoard them away. Promising developments with my original melodies are always "just around the corner," so until that corner is hopefully turned someday, I continue to perform instrumental piano music for local restaurants, hotels, private parties and weddings, enjoying every minute of it. I even occasionally include several of my originals in with the more familiar Broadway showtunes, standards, and love songs. |