American artist Stanton MacDonald-Wright once said, “Whenever man had a desire for heavenly intoxication he turned to music, yet color is just as capable as music with providing us with ecstasies and delights.” But he is not the only artist to have sought inspiration in music. In fact, I've just commissioned Christine Zion to create five works of art (inspired by my music) that are now part of my personal collection. They may be viewed in the Photo Gallery as one scrolls beneath the Bio page of this website. Christine Zion is a French Canadian Contemporary Digital Artist. She mixes Nature photography and digital imaging. Through the digital medium, her work expands upon many different levels of information. Her compositions are characterized by large sections of layered colors in an abstract style. One of her favorite quotes is from her inspiration Pablo Picasso: "I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it." Check out her website: http://www.christinezion.com/
Color = Music = Color, ad infinitum
ZANE GILLESPIE
After six years as Minister of Music at Mount Pleasant United Methodist Church (UMC) in Holly Springs, MS, I was recently called to continue to work to address public engagement in music participation as Director of Music Ministries at First UMC in Water Valley, MS. I am a Composer, Theorist, and member of both The College Music Society as well as The Poe Studies Association (PSA). I am also an active pianist and vocalist, specializing primarily in church music. My paper entitled ““Mesmeric Revelation”: Art as Hypnosis” has been published by the international, peer-reviewed journal Humanities. In addition, another paper of mine entitled “A Model of Triadic Post-Tonality for a Neoconservative Postmodern String Quartet by Sky Macklay” has been submitted to the peer-reviewed Music Theory journal Perspectives of New Music. At the end of February 2015, I served as Chair for the session entitled “Aesthetics and Philosophy” at The Fourth International PSA Conference in New York City. On June 21, 2014, my Quartet for Alto Saxophone and Strings, a commission from concert saxophonist Walter Hoehn, was performed as part of Concert V of the Eighth Annual Belvedere Chamber Music Festival held at Grace-St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Memphis, TN. Characteristically neo-romantic (in the original sense of the word), my music earned me the Nancy Van de Vate Award for Composition three times from the University of Mississippi Department of Music. A native of Pontotoc, MS, I hold degrees from the University of Mississippi (BM; MM), and the University of Memphis (DMA) where I was the 2011 recipient of the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music's Smit Composition Award. I live in Memphis, TN.