Redefinition

When I first began life on the internet, the purpose was singular and simple: to have a static website designed to promote my work as a saxophonist. The site would house things like my biography, performance schedule, contact information, as well as audio clips and a list of pieces that I’d premiered or that had been written for me. Pretty standard fare even today, just about 10 years later, for performers looking to put themselves out there in the world. It was a great tool that served me well as I found my footing in a larger musical world and community.

Though the site functioned just as I had envisioned it, the internet, you may recall, began to change rather quickly. Things started to become more dynamic. I began blogging, sharing photos, tweeting, and so on; all things that I believed would be an asset to have integrated into my own personal site. So began a small series of redesigns of my website. Initially, there was just a blog addition but it was created in a different database and had no design or style connection to my original website other than sharing the same root directory. The next couple iterations successfully integrated the website and blog but the site was still largely the same “classic” static musician website.

While the site had definitely evolved, I still struggled with the fact that it just didn’t seem to represent me as a whole person anymore–and what is a personal website supposed to be if not an extension of yourself? In the 10 years since the launch of my first website, I had evolved as well. Whereas being a musician and classical saxophonist about the world was the way I had defined myself for over a decade, since then I have embraced a variety of other pursuits–some musical, some non-musical–that I consider to be integral parts of who I am today. So I suppose as a matter of presenting the truest and most honest portrait of myself online, I have sought to create a website that allows me to showcase all of these things, rather than just a small slice of my character.