David M. Henderson:  

Life You had to know I followed a different drummer. After escaping the oppressive homophobic environment we grew up in I managed to create my own way. Thru the years I founded some of the first gay/lesbian student organizations at several universities in Texas, helped elect politicians that worked for people I care about & in 84-85 also served on the board of the Dallas Gay Alliance & was a founder of the AIDS Resource Center there. By the mid-80's I'd burned out as the number of people I knew dying topped 200. Mind you, working in this field then was a labor of love; it only became an industry later on. So I regrouped & went back to my first love - music. I finished a long-delayed bachelors & went on to New England Conservatory of Music in Boston for a master's degree and afterward to Boston University for doctoral studies. In between there were language studies at Harvard and elsewhere. (Hey, I was already in Boston. Why not?) My thirties were rich with music. For ten years I was blessed to perform in the Tanglewood Festival Chorus with the Boston Symphony and Pops around the world. In addition I got to perform with the Boston Lyric Opera as part of the regular ensemble & was hired by Harvard twice to direct productions on their campus. Probably the highest level of music making I've ever known was performing two years with Emmanuel Music. This professional group, comprised mostly of opera singers based in the city, would rehearse a full Bach Cantata on Saturday, read in German from scratch, and then perform it the next morning - complete - with full Baroque orchestra as a part of the weekly services at this church. Emmanuel Music would perform the entire series of cantatas, well over 200, before repeating any of them. In '96 I decided to try my hand at composing, mostly music theater. I'd commute to NYC weekly to participate in the BMI Musical Theater Workshop from which came at least a quarter of shows on the Great White Way over the last few decades. I loved the creating, but man it's a tough biz. Think of it this way: fewer people write a show that gets produced professionally in all of NYC each year than reach the summit of Mt. Everest. I had a few small successes but nothing to overly brag about. Nowadays I write music mostly for personal enjoyment & for a few friends. I'd like to say that I was able to make my living with all of the above, but sadly, it wasn't to be. Performing, eve...Expand for more