Tony and Ron

After spending most of my early years playing the trumpet, I set it aside in my twenties. I was glad to have stopped, but there were things I missed:

Sitting in the middle of an orchestra. Combining my sound with the musicians around me. Playing music with my friends.        

Luckily, I had a way of staying near music. It was my friend Tony Plog.

Tony used to sit next to me in the American Youth Symphony, which was conducted by Mehli Mehta, father of Zubin Mehta. But Tony’s trumpet career continued on, unlike mine, and so by following his career, I could imagine one of my own. And what a career he has had!

Tony played full time in the San Antonio, Utah, Malmo, and Basel Symphonies. He freelanced with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well as the Pasadena and Pacific Symphonies. Non-orchestra jobs included the Summitt Brass, LA studio work, Sweeney Todd, St. Louis Brass Quintet, and others.  

He has lived and taught for years in Europe, produced over thirty recordings, and held masterclasses around the world, many of which I’ve had the pleasure of attending and observing.  

Throughout his career, Tony has written music. Finally, to have enough time, he retired from playing and teaching, instead spending his time composing—first for brass, then orchestra, then voices in operas and cantatas. I’ve had the privilege of creating the words to several of his operas and other voice works. 

Tony and I have written two cantatas, God’s First Temples and Magdalene: A Thistle Farms Cantata; as well as two operas for families, How the Trumpet Got Its Toot and A Letter to Santa; and two operas for adults, Sweeping the Starsand Theremin. Theremin, our most recent opera, will receive a workshop performance this summer at the Seagle Festival in upstate New York.  

As Tony and I write more together, I enjoy spending time with my great friend and reentering the world of music.