SHONKY

Shonky-

1. of dubious integrity or legality

2. unreliable; unsound

I’ve long felt out of place in the music world- my ambitions don’t match match my instrument. 

I lean into the shonky nature of my instrument- I find that juxtaposing laser beam clarity with shonky imprecision creates the push and pull that engages me as a listener- like searching a radio dial through static and ether to find a tiny frequency, full of beauty, reaching out for a listener. 

         Something symmetrical and beautiful producing something similarly symmetrical and beautiful is neither surprising nor special- but a sliding, overused piece of copper and brass tubing saying something cathartic in a moment of profound global vulnerability I find to be endlessly exciting. I often relate to the dancer Erik Cavanaugh- (he is famous for showing that dancers can be any shape or size) but I stop short in saying that he is a great dancer and deserving of his fame in spite of his non traditional shape. I wholeheartedly assert that his movements are beautiful because of his size; just as a new silhouette can open perspectives in appreciating the human form, so can a new vehicle in art music give new and different beauty because of its shonky nature.  I’m so pleased to be able to share some recordings in the near future that I believe will similarly open some new perspectives in chamber music- more on that later.

Enjoy.