Musikhaus began as a private teaching studio in Rapid City, South Dakota. I was joined by my wife Michelle in 2000. She eventually became the primary instructor for the studio and I began to focus on other professional endeavors such as ChoralNet, Dakota Voices, and transcribing, editing, and arranging music for ensembles in the USA and abroad.
When Michelle and I relocated to Fort Myers, Florida in 2018, Musikhaus ended as a studio. I am now retired from university and church choral activity and Michelle is a mental health counselor. Having been encouraged by many to make our music available to others, I have created this website to disseminate unpublished manuscripts of various types of music.
I am indebted to my friend David Topping who, again after 25 years, has assisted me in creating a website. If you have need of any website assistance, I urge you to follow his link.
Thought it might be time to check in since it’s already mid-February. Not sure how those people who blog and post daily updates to social media get anything done. Maybe they’re just more hard-working than I am.
A series of hyperlinks below sum up better than anything I could write how this earth is headed for disaster … at least for most lifeforms on the planet. Insects and reptiles might survive. This won’t happen in my lifetime, but by the time my children are old, they will struggle with many problems brought on by the greed and selfishness of older generations.
The seasons in Florida are very different than those in the north. It’s even different from Arizona, based on my hazy memories from the early 1980s.
Daily, Michelle and I look at each other and remark how much we we love being here. Despite the idiot governor (would SD be better?) and some rednecky neighbors, we love what we have created here.
My rehab from rotator cuff surgery goes well. My physical therapist is constantly amazed at my progress. Her comment this past visit was, “You continue to destroy all boundaries.” –
Happy New Year! And hoping that that this year will be MUCH better than 2022. So far, it has been two steps forward, one step back.
Our journey to normalcy continues. At this writing, new countertops are installed and we have sinks, appliances, and laundry facilities again. Imagine that – the luxury of sleeping, cooking, and doing laundry at home!
OK, so it happened. Everything everyone warned us about moving to Florida came to fruition at the end of September when Hurricane Ian, a storm of epic proportions, came roaring up the Caloosahatchee River.
I recall telling Michelle back in 2016 that if she was serious about moving to Florida we needed to visit in August, not in January or March or November. We did so in 2017, rented a house on the river in Cape Coral, spent some time running around and ended up buying property in Port Charlotte. We left Florida about three weeks before Hurricane Irma showed up.
Summer in Florida usually means two or three things …..
The combined scourge of Covid and Florida high season is over. This means that (finally) some people are leaving southwest Florida as the warmer/rainier months appear. Much has been happening here.
This came in the mail today. To steal David Burns’ words, I am so pleased that Markus Utz and his ensemble cantissimo have created this outstanding CD to accompany my liner notes. (lol)