I ceased being a serious musician 30 years ago, but I never ceased loving music. As a teenager, I took advanced music theory classes at Interlochen and played the piano there. I played piano in college, and played in a trio that performed the Brahms Horn Trio, and played Ives, Beethoven, Schubert and Chopin. My teacher was Steve Drury.
It has been years since I practiced as I should, but I still like playing show tunes for my daughters (and others!) to sing to.
I write this because I enjoy writing about music, which continues to move me. I think there is a bit of a hole in music criticism. Some critics worry too much about the sound of their stereo. While some gear is better than others, an obsession with equipment tends to undermine musical enjoyment. No reproduction equipment will ever match the real thing, so it is silly to spend six figures in a futile quest. One is far better off spending a few thousand on a system and then using the remaining money to buy tickets to real live concerts.
Other critics are just too snarky--I suspect many of them never seriously played an instrument. What musicians do is hard, and it takes enormous courage to go out on a stage and play music. given that even the best players are rarely flawless (Maurizio Pollini may be the exception).
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