Hi Folks, Someone posted on Facebook the other day a picture of the Tulare Western High School jazz band from my senior year in high school. It was great seeing everyone and being reminded of how much we enjoyed making music together. It also reminded me of how grateful we should be for music in the public schools. I started playing trumpet in the 5th grade at Roosevelt Elementary in ...

Hi Folks, I have also recently published a couple of pieces that brought back fond memories of when my son was just a toddler. “Piano Sonata no. 1” (which was later arranged for concert band as “Three Sketches on Jonathan”), and “String Quartet no. 1“. The 3 movements of the piano sonata are truly character sketches of Jon. The movement titles, “Whirling Dervish“, “Night Sighs“, and “Mischief” are quite accurate ...

Hi Folks, I recently published on my webstore a couple of pieces that brought back a lot of good memories of old friends. “Think of You” for flute, oboe (originally flugelhorn), soprano, and piano was commissioned many years ago by Beth and Joel Nunes for their wedding. I met these wonderful people during my studies at COS (for non-Central Valley folks, College of the Sequoias in Visalia, CA). I’ve also ...

Hi Folks, Perhaps you’ve wondered, “What’s taking Bernie so long to publish his pieces in the webstore?” Well, I’m going to tell you. It’s because I started composing decades ago with pencil, paper, piano, and without the help of a computer. When I got my first computer back in 1990-ish, it was a PC (386, Win 3.0, DOS 5, 4mb RAM) built by a guy I worked with. Yes, I ...

Hi Folks, This is my new blog in which I post tidbits on my activities and make announcements on the publication of new works in my webstore. I’m really excited about this upcoming semester (fall 2023). I’ll be teaching music classes at Abilene Christian University, Hardin-Simmons University, and McMurry University. I’ll also be recording both Masterworks and Pops concerts for the Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra. I just finished a commission for ...