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Mission Statement

I believe in creativity. More than just an activity that embellishes our lives, it is the essential foundation of living. It is what we are all meant to be doing right now. When you throw out the extraneous stuff, creativity is the gem at the heart of a life worth living.

I believe in community. More than just assembly or committee and more than just being in the melting pot with everyone else, community means cultural identity. It means being better because of the people you share your life with and the people who have influenced you. It means the opportunity to make a contribution. Without community, we cannot live with purpose.

I believe that music is one of the best ways to strive for these values. It is at its core inventive and spontaneous, but it also flourishes from strong cultural roots. Music is a powerful way of connecting people and defining a community. It sidesteps our cluttered thoughts and grabs our emotional core, helping us to realize our shared humanity.

We live in an age that worships the new. I believe we need music to be new, but to be new is not enough. In a world of individuals all fighting to be heard, we need music that unites us by drawing from shared heritage. I believe that recognizing and presenting the beauty of old songs in a fresh way is just as important and as unique as creating more new songs.

In some cultures, the word for “song” and the word for “dance” is the same. In other cultures, the word for “singing” and the word for “telling” are the same. For the kind of beauty that fills people with awe, great musicians make every piece of music sing, dance, and tell a story. That is what I strive to do.

To thrill, to captivate, and to make a real connection with others, the rebels and the innovators in music have always chosen the path of abundant inspiration rather than specialization. They expand music's palette by exploring more than one instrument, one language, or one time period. It is their dissatisfaction that drives them to make music better, more important, and more meaningful.

May we all be blessed with just enough dissatisfaction to make life truly great.