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1883 Bechstein piano and the beach is also hers out at La Place near Port Angeles, WA.
KP: You wear an amazing number of hats. You are an incredible musician, you are the pastor of your church, you teach piano lessons, you perform regularly at a resort/restaurant (www.Semiahmoo.com) , and you’re “Dad” to seven kids. Do you ever sleep?
Mutchler: Ha! I sleep very well as a result of the full days I pull! I do have a full but wonderfully satisfying and interesting life. I haven't found anyone I'd trade with! I am very blessed to do so many things I like. By the way, my wife (a former school teacher) and I also home school all seven kids. It's quite a life!
KP: Where in Washington is Ferndale?
Mutchler: Ferndale is on the main interstate in Washington, I-5. We are about 90 minutes north of Seattle and about 20 minutes south of the Canadian border. We live in a home we built as a family in 2004. From our windows we can see much of British Columbia.
KP: Have you been in Ferndale for a long time?
Mutchler: Diane and I have been in Ferndale 21 years. We both originated from Kitsap County - Bremerton and Poulsbo, WA - and met in high school.
KP: What inspired you and your wife to start your own church?
Mutchler: Before we moved to Ferndale, I was attending seminary in Vancouver, British Columbia. We were newlyweds and lived in Blaine, WA (a border town near Ferndale) from where I commuted to school. We were part of a sweet congregation in Blaine that asked us, after graduation, to start a sister church in Ferndale. The idea of staying in NW Washington appealed to us, along with the challenge and opportunity of serving our own congregation, so we accepted. As I mentioned earlier, we just marked our 20th anniversary.
KP: How did your music fit in with that?
Mutchler: Diane and I were self-supporting when we started the Ferndale Alliance Church. Diane was a public school teacher and I taught and performed piano. Although the church has now become a full-time work, I still enjoy a very active music career. So, in short, music has always helped pay the bills of our large family.
KP: When did you start playing the piano?
Mutchler: I grew up in a musical family. My father, Ralph D. Mutchler, was a successful musician and jazz educator, so all the Mutchlers took piano lessons. I started at age six. Nadean Clarke was my first teacher. A song I composed for her, “Nadean,” is featured on “La Place Sur La Mer.” It is a modern work, but I tried to give it a Chopin-like feel in terms of melody and construction, but with more modern chord changes. I completed the work a few weeks before she passed away in 2006.
KP: She must have been enormously moved by that!
Mutchler: Sadly, she didn't get to hear it, except from heaven!
KP: How long did you take lessons?
Mutchler: Kathy, I still take lessons! After high school (where I focused mostly on my jazz playing), I continued lessons at college and university and earned a music degree, meeting the requirements in two areas: piano performance (classical) and jazz studies. I still take an occasional lesson when I'm working on a large classical work with my former teacher at WWU, Ford Hill (http://jonmutchler.com/ludwig.html) who lives nearby.
I think it is so important to keep learning and growing. One of the biggest complaints about musicians is that they stop maturing. They grow old and stagnant. I keep trying to learn new works and go to a variety of concerts when I can. (In fact, an hour ago I returned from a fabulous performance of Spanish piano music, performed by Brazilian pianist, Geisa Dutra). Also, I think we need to embrace all styles of piano music: classical (all periods), jazz, popular, and modern. I try to attend a concert of some kind (classical or jazz) monthly.
KP: Let’s talk a little about your style of playing.
Mutchler: Kathy, when I post my music on CD Baby, iTunes, or Amazon, I always struggle with what to call it. Jazz? Pop? New Age? Sacred? I know that people who like jazz, popular, gospel, and new age music enjoy what I do. Perhaps I can say that my music is a fusion of classical and jazz, popular and sacred, improvised and structured. I value rich and interesting harmonies, and also complex but satisfying rhythms. I always strive to say something "new." I think creativity is one of the most divine gifts that God gives us. As a side note, that is one reason I'm not terribly thrilled with the video game, “Guitar Hero.” It is a musical game based entirely on imitation: Playing note for note, someone else's music. That's fine for what it is, but I want to hear something new! Change it! Make it your own. Create! I encourage my students to improvise. (My dear mom called it, "pounding!" when I was growing up. I call it
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