Reed Gratz In many ways Reed Gratz lives a double life. When school is in session he’s a teacher at the University of La Verne, but during the summer months and any other opportunity he gets, he’s across the globe in his Holland home. But no matter where he is in the world, music is a part of his life. Gratz’ wife is from Amsterdam, and their son was born there, so they spend as much time as is possible in Holland. As a Fulbright scholar, he has had the opportunity to teach there, and he of course gets a performance in every now and then. One thing Gratz enjoys about the flexibility of his schedule is that it allows him the opportunity to travel as well as share his music both in La Verne and abroad. “I get to perform as much or as little as I want,” says Gratz who performs about two shows annually at ULV. As far as Holland is concerned, he says that all depends on the time period and whether he has people to play with. Often times he is more heavily involved with the teaching aspect, but he often plays clubs and concerts depending on the available venues. Two years ago he participated in a two-week tour with a band from Prague. Music in Holland is a lot different than the United States, Gratz says, and not just because of a language barrier. “While music can be similar it’s played different, it’s played with a Netherlands accent,” he says, adding that the demands and business approaches are different as well, among other comparisons. “Here, it is easy to throw stuff in a car and go to a gig; there it’s difficult to get around,” Gratz says. “There it’s o.k. to be a musician; here you’re still looked at a little funny. There, it’s still honorable. Also I found if you’re a professor there, it’s regarded much more highly than it is here.” Gratz says he and his wife Udit consider packing up and leaving for Holland on a daily basis. “We talk about it almost daily,” he says. “We like going back and forth, but it’s very hectic.” But while they think it is fun to consider the possibilities daily, they never come to the point of decision. “That’s part of dreaming,” Gratz says. “If you’re in the arts, and you’re not dreaming, you’re not doing any art.” For Gratz, art is about imagination and making someone else understand and share your art and imagery. “People are boring without dreams,” he says. “As an artist, I don’t know how you could function. It’s certainly been a great part of my life having that other culture to go to and come back. It certainly keeps things fresh.” “In music, you continually discover new things, continue to learn. You practice and practice, and there’s always room for improvement,” says Gratz who has enjoyed college teaching because he can continually renew his interests. While he knows he may never get to share that with his students, it is something he does for himself. “Music was all around me as a kid,” says Gratz, who grew up with a mother who played piano and a father who sang. He feels lucky to have had music in his life, especially at a time when more people did that sort of thing. Growing up, Gratz tried out various instruments including the trombone and other bass instruments. These days he focuses on the piano and similar instruments like synthesizers and electric keyboards. He says the piano is the one instrument he can really play, although “he can make noise on a lot of them.” “Like a lot of musicians, you hack around on a lot of them because you’re interested, but you don’t play in public,” Gratz says. “It’s rare to find people who perform on more than one instrument.” “You have to practice it all the time or they fall to the wayside,” he adds. “You have to practice. It’s a daily routine. Who has time for that?” Gratz compared music to sports, both with which he was involved when he was younger. “Always music and sports went hand in hand – you practice one, you practice the other,” Gratz said. His father was a beloved coach at Manchester College, a sister school to ULV. For him, the two hobbies are a natural pairing, and he still cannot see the separation between them because they both require the same discipline and concentration. “Once you get it down in your fingers/body it’s a head thing,” he says. Not only is music in his blood, but teaching as well. Gratz is a fourth-generation college professor. “So that seemed natural,” Gratz says. It was also natural for him to pick music as his area to teach. “It seemed like a good thing to do all day long – you talk about it, sing it or play it and do it as a hobby.” He nearly always has a project going when it comes to composing, although he admits he has not been writing as furiously as he used to, what with a two-year-old climbing all over him. Gratz enjoys playing music “that I play well.” While he prefers classical music, he does not play it in front of audiences. Instead he prefers improvisation and jazz and funk, with which he is more comfortable. He likes to put people together to “communicate through weird, non-verbal art.” RETURN TO FACULTY LISTmailto:gratzr@ulv.edu?subject=HELLOHome.htmlshapeimage_1_link_1
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