This is off topic to the thread. Since the last poster shared his name via AOL, I took the liberty of posting his biography for all those who love to paint Temecula as a gun toting, Bible thumping, tricked-out truck driving outpost for those who can’t afford to live in the culturally advanced (?!) OC or SD counties:
“Composer/conductor XY showed his prodigious musical talent early, playing piano at age three, composing and improvising by age seven. His formidable training included mentoring in compostion from Darius Milhaud, Vincent Persichetti and Roger Sessions. After graduating from The Juilliard School of Music in 1969, X’s fluency at the piano landed him jazz gigs with Elvin Jones, Clark Terry, Nick Brignola and Lee Konitz; pop gigs with Hall & Oates, Judy Collins, Esther Phillips and Maureen McGovern. He became Bette Midler’s Musical Director in 1976, arranging and conduct ing the wildly successful Clams On The Half Shell Revue, The First Annual Farewell Tour and the Live At Last album and HBO show.
From 1976 to 1991 X put most of his effort into his collaboration with legendary choreographer Paul Taylor. As Musical Director of the Paul Taylor Dance Company, he scored eight ballets, conducted fifteen New York seasons as well as engagements with the Paris Opera Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony, Danish Radio Orchestra, Scottish National Orchestra, Edinburgh Festival Orchestra, Sadler’s Wells Orchestra, San Francisco Ballet Orchestra and Buffalo Philharmonic. Two of his Taylor scores are represented on PBS’ Dance In America series. He also conducted eight seasons for New York City Ballet, composed and conducted for Miami City Ballet, Mark Morris Dance Group, Jose Limon Company and Ballet Marseilles/Roland Petit. On Broadway Mr. Y has conducted or arranged I Love My Wife, Little Me, Can-Can, Merlin, 5-6-7-8- Dance!, Sunset, The Marriage Of Figaro, The Life and Sweet Charity. Since moving to California in 1995, X has arranged and conducted the tour of The Ann-Margret Show and conducted national tours of Beauty and the Beast, Fosse, Hello Dolly! and The Producers. His reworking of Duke Ellington’s neglected musical Beggar’s Holiday recently premiered at the Marin Theatre Company.
X Y lives on his ranch in Temecula, California with his wife, Anne, and their three children, eight horses, five dogs, two goats, a pig, a cat & “Kirby” the scat singing cockatiel.”
The longer I’m in Temecula, the more I encounter accomplished people like Mr. Y, people who left behind city life and chose to live in the IE.
