Composer Blogs@Sequenza21.com
American composer Tom Myron was born November 15, 1959 in Troy, NY. His compositions have been commissioned and performed by the Kennedy Center, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, the Atlantic Classical Orchestra, the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, the Topeka Symphony, the Yale Symphony Orchestra, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Bangor Symphony and the Lamont Symphony at Denver University.

He works regularly as an arranger for the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, writing for singers Rosanne Cash, Kelli O'Hara, Maxi Priest & Phil Stacey, the Young People's Chorus of New York City, the band Le Vent du Nord & others. His film scores include Wilderness & Spirit; A Mountain Called Katahdin and the upcoming Henry David Thoreau; Surveyor of the Soul, both from Films by Huey.

Individual soloists and chamber ensembles that regularly perform Myron's work include violinists Peter Sheppard-Skaerved, Elisabeth Adkins & Kara Eubanks, violist Tsuna Sakamoto, cellist David Darling, the Portland String Quartet, the DaPonte String Quartet and the Potomac String Quartet.

Tom Myron's Violin Concerto No. 2 has been featured twice on Performance Today. Tom Myron lives in Northampton, MA. His works are published by MMB Music Inc.

FREE DOWNLOADS of music by TOM MYRON

Symphony No. 2

Violin Concerto No. 2

Viola Concerto

The Soldier's Return (String Quartet No. 2)

Katahdin (Greatest Mountain)

Contact featuring David Darling

Mille Cherubini in Coro featuring Lee Velta

This Day featuring Andy Voelker


Visit Tom Myron's Web Site
Monday, January 29, 2007
Master Class


When I was a student in the music department at UMass Amherst in the early '80s my minor was in percussion performance. At that time Max Roach was a member of the music faculty. What this meant was that Max would show up for 2 or 3 days in the Spring (once with an alarmingly large PBS film crew in tow) and give lectures, concerts with his quartet and a master class for degree-enrolled percussionists.

There were about 12 of us at that time and at the appointed hour we gathered in a corner of the Fine Arts Center's cavernous basement rehearsal hall. Max entered with a small group of faculty and invited dignitaries.

He looked us over and said, "So this is a master class?" We glanced around at each other and then gave a sort of group nod of affirmation.

"Good," said Max "because I want to make sure I'm passing this information on to the right people. How many of you want careers in this business?"

We were young. Everyone's hand went up.

Max looked pleased and said, "Great. Here's your master class. Get a lawyer. Seriously- right away. Don't wait until you're successful. The guys I came up with, it took us years to figure this out. Did you know that Mick Fleetwood drives a Rolls Royce? He's got a lawyer. You have no idea how much I love going to my mailbox in the morning and finding a check for something I did in 1963."

A brief silence ensued. My friend Randy (who now is a lawyer) raised his hand. "Max, that famous hi-hat solo that you do, would you break that down for us?"

Max looked taken aback, but only for a second. Then he smiled broadly and said, "No."