by Nathan Plante

My life as a musician started at a young age in the handbell choir of my family’s church near San Diego, California. I remember that I couldn’t yet read music, so one of the elderly ladies in the choir would take a highlighter and mark the notes in the music I was responsible for. A few years later, I picked up the trumpet in school and never looked back — no more handbells for me, and at some point, no more church.

Fast forward several decades later and I’m making a living as a professional musician. Despite many years of playing contemporary music and working extensively with living composers, it never occurred to me to write my own music. I wasn’t even sure what „my“ music would sound like. Even improvisation was something I shied away from – I was perfectly happy interpreting the music of others.