Ten years ago, Steve and I finished our master’s degrees at the Eastman School of Music and set out to build careers in music.

We decided to make a move that was less common in our field at the time: Instead of heading to a big city with lots of opportunities to begin a freelance career, we moved to a small town in rural Massachusetts.

That became the impetus for everything that followed.

Dear Creative,

Life as a musician is beautiful, messy, deeply fulfilling, and complex work.

It starts within—a desire to do work that matters, to make a difference; a yearning for beauty; a spark of creativity. It requires you to take risks, listen, adapt, and live with abandon.

It’s what all artists do, really. We dream, we try, we create, we innovate. 

There will be good days, times when you feel like you are making a difference, creating something beautiful, and truly serving people.

And, like anything in life, there will be hard days mixed in, as well.