Suggested Links
Here are links to some friends and businesses you might want to know about.
KEITH JOHNSTON PHOTOGRAPHY
Keith is not only a good friend and fabulous trombonist and conductor (he leads the Sacred Heart University Orchestra AND the school's Concert Band), he's also a terrific photographer. He specializes in nautical, concert, and event photography, but he also took many of the photos of me you see on this website (including the one above). Needless to say, I highly recommend him.
BANDZOOGLE
One of the reasons I put off putting together my own website — aside from sheer laziness and, until recently, being able to do what I needed on the Book of Face — was the expense and the technical formidability of doing it. I once had a webpage through the universit at which I taught but they eventually took away that perk. A colleagues suggested I check out Bandzoogle and, if I decided to use it, to make sure I get a discount through my ASCAP membership. I did all of that, and this website is the result. Another thing I like about it is that it's run by musicians who know what musicians need on their website. Give it a go.
THE UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT OFFICE
If you're a composer or arranger and need to register the copyright on your works, this is the place. If you're not but USE copyrighted materials and have questions, this is the place for you too.
THE ASSOCIATION OF CONCERT BANDS
A fine group of people who perform in, conduct, and write for (mostly) community bands.
AMERICAN STRING TEACHERS ASSOCIATION
Another fine group of folks, this one for everything dealing with bowed string ensembles.
ASCAP (THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF COMPOSERS, AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERS)
One of several Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) in the U.S.; Steven is a member. (The others are BMI, SESAC, and GMR.) PROs collect and distribute performance royalties to its members. The monies come from “blanket” licenses negotiated with performance venues, restaurants and bars, television and radio stations (both terrestrial and digital).
GEORGE PERLE (1915–2009)
George Perle was considered one of the foremost authorities on the music of Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern, as well as a fine composer. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his Wind Quintet No. 4. Steven was an undergraduate at Queens College (CUNY) when he somehow convinced George Perle to give him composition lessons. This was at a time when Perle was developing his system of Twelve-tone Tonality. (TTT is the antithesis of Schoenberg's approach, far more concerned with harmony and harmonic motion than a linear approach to post-tonal music.) Steven became Perle's “guinea pig” in using the system, and while he doesn't use it in all of his works Perle's teaching and way of thinking about music had a huge impact on Steven's own musical thinking and “hearing.” (Interesting note: Steven studied with Perle, who studied with Ernst Krenek, who studied with Schoenberg, making Steven Schoenberg's compositional great-grandson. Weird….)