Born in 1947, I was raised in Boston, Massachusetts. My father, a PhD in English Literature and semi-professional violinist, ensured that I received a worthy musical education in my formative years. I learned to play the piano and clarinet, also taking lessons in music theory and composition.

Unfortunately, I abandoned my music education as a teenager and headed straight for hard and progressive rock music. I eventually found my way back to my musical foundations and have been an avid and exclusive classical music enthusiast for many years now. I still play piano and clarinet, although my proficiency is well below the level I achieved as a youngster.

I have five particular musical passions: Bach, Schumann, Scriabin, Shostakovich and keyboard music from the early baroque period up to modern times. I am also not immune to the occasional obsession, as evidenced by listening to only Bach's organ music for a three year period in the mid-1990's. Reviewing classical recordings is a total pleasure and natural extension of my personality as I love to research the lives of composers, acquire and listen to recordings and write about my passion for classical music and recorded performances.

Married in 1969, my wife Ellen Jane and I have raised three children, none of them musically inclined. I have a Masters Degree in Economics and spent my professional career as a real estate appraiser and Chief of Real Estate for the US Army Corps of Engineers' Albuquerque District. Now retired, I am living the "good life" in the sun-drenched Southwest region of the United States and have more time than ever before to devote to my growing musical passions.

Don Satz
dsatz@hotmail.com

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