The Musician
While science quantifies the frequency of a note and theology interprets its significance, music enables us to experience the truth of both. I hold that beauty constitutes an essential form of knowledge. In these essays, I delve into how the discipline of the keyboard shapes the discipline of the mind, discovering that the ultimate synthesis is not located in a book or laboratory but in the resonant space where we finally learn to listen.
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From Goosebumps to Grace: The Power of Brahms’ Piano Masterpiece
Brahms’ Intermezzo in A Major, Op. 118 No. 2, is a quiet masterpiece of late‑life introspection, a work where tenderness, longing, and spiritual ambiguity converge. Blending personal reflection, musical insight, and the science of aesthetic “chills,” this essay explores how Brahms transforms private grief into a universal language of solace.
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Theology | Beethoven | Music | Neuroscience | Science
The Resurrected Voice: How Beethoven’s Op. 110 Maps the Brain to the Soul
Neurophysiological and theological depths of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 31. A musical ‘anastasis,’ bridging Catholic Enlightenment piety and modern brain science.
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“Keep Practicing”: Lessons from a Legend
What can a piano teacher teach us about the ‘technology of presence’? Using the 1993 performance of Manuel Infante’s ‘Ritmo’ as a case study, Victor Gavino explores how legacy functions as leadership. Discover how a mentor’s influence becomes a ‘portable presence’ that continues to shape reality long after they have left the stage.
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Why God? Why, God? The Journey from Despair to Advent Joy
Life is hard-wired for transcendence, always reaching for an echo of Eden. In this final sermon at Central Presbyterian, the language of music—specifically Beethoven’s Sonata No. 31—becomes a vessel for the Gospel. It is a journey through gasping laments and mysterious chords toward a strength seasoned by suffering and a hope that death never has the last word.
