application essay #2 --- The attachment is a quaint monochrome photograph which depicts an otherwise vast, sprawling estate known as the Gamble house (for its original owners, David and Mary Gamble of the Procter and Gamble soap and toothpaste fortune). Willed into existence by master architects C. S. and H. M. Greene in late 1908, the house is a masterpiece from the Craftsman era and is an example of the Greene brothers’ “ultimate bungalows.” Mere blocks from my comparatively tiny bungalow dwelling, I consider it the most beautiful place in my hometown of Pasadena, California. The Gamble house also has a particular importance to me personally, though, as a symbol of my artistic aspirations and of my interest in finding the proper venue for my art, specifically music, to exist in the world around me. The Greene brothers lived in Pasadena, just as I have since my birth, and they spent their lives creating tangible art which people could incorporate into their daily lives, just as I hope to do. Whereas their contributions to society were in the form of buildings, I am studying to make mine in the form of musical compositions. A musician I can easily compare to the Greenes is France’s Claude Debussy, who was composing around the time of the Craftsman boom in architecture in the States. Debussy’s compositions are just as splendorous and grandiose as the ultimate bungalows found in my city. Evidence of the scope of Debussy’s vision for his art form is in the 10 sonatas for various small chamber ensembles he set out to write before his death. He completed 6 before his 1917 passing. The last sonata, for flute, viola, and harp, provides for an interesting link between the turn of the century impressionist wave in music and art and my own musical pursuits. A modern ensemble called the Debussy Trio, celebrated for playing the sonata I speak of, recently agreed to visit my arts high school and perform. After their spectacular rendition of the sonata, they conducted a short masterclass with my four student composition class on writing music for flute, viola, and harp. Some months later, they returned to sight read, rehearse, perfect, and then record the trio I had written for them! The result is an amazing performance, captured by excellent recording equipment, of a piece I am most proud of. I have sent a cassette of this and other compositions to your University for perusal. I am indebted to the Debussy Trio for their lovely gesture and for the chance it gave me to see an artistic idea of mine realized to its fullest extent. The response among those who have heard my trio has been overwhelmingly good and has only encouraged me to increase the scale of my musical ideas and devote more energy to honing this creative skill I possess. I have been studying composition with Michael Patterson for 3 years now, and have created works for chamber ensembles, jazz ensembles, voices, electronics (including works for sampled voice), and even instruments with electronic tape. Since the flute, harp, and viola trio, I have entered many composition competitions (often with the trio as my submission), and have commenced work on a string quartet and pieces for piano. I am intent on someday creating an artwork to rival the epic proportion and glory of Debussy’s sonatas and of the home you see in the included photograph. Suggested reading: Makinson, Randell L. Greene & Greene, Architecture as a Fine Art. Peregrine Smith Books, Santa Barbara, CA. 1977 --- for the picture in question please see: http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~bosley/efront2.jpg by daniel brummel, 1998