Robert Rutherford

From a very young age, I have always been fascinated with music. I grew up singing along to the cartoons of The Beatles, playing air guitar to Black Sabbath, and pretending to play the drums along with In the Air, by Phil Collins. You know the part I’m talking about. Its that feeling you get when you know its coming, you wait for it, you sometimes start too early, and then finally it happens and then an instantaneous feeling of joy and happiness fills your soul as you get lost in the music. What is it about music that makes us completely forget about our worries and responsibilities, makes us feel compassion for the world, or weep as if we have lost our dearest loved one? Maybe you have never thought too deeply about it and are just a passive listener that could care less, but I on the other hand cannot seem to get these questions out of my head.
At the age of 26, I have dedicated most of my early adult life searching for these answers. While most of my peers were studying hard to get into college to get high paying jobs, I spent most of my time playing and listening to music. It was at my first live music concert, that I realized that music was not just my favorite hobby or pastime, but it was my true calling in life. Even if I could not yet understand the powerful phenomena and overwhelming effect that music had on me, I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life pusuing those answers. I not only want to spend my life reaping the rewards of listening to music, I want to play an integral role in creating, preserving, and sharing it with the world.