Ewell's Introduction
[musical introduction]
Welcome, I am Terry Ewell. Viewing this video is optional. It gives
some information about me, if you are interested. If you are pressed
for time, just move on to the course introductions.
I have been teaching in higher education since 1979, when I moved to
Hong Kong and played as Principal Bassoon of the Hong Kong Philharmonic
and also taught at the Hong Kong Conservatory of Music. Since that
time, I have taught either in conservatories or universities until
today. I have served as a full-time university professor since 1989.
I am not a stranger to online education. I have been posting
pedagogical materials online since 1994 and I have been an online
course instructor since 2007. I am known as the “Bassoon
Digital
Professor” and I have over 750 YouTube videos created in six
languages with over 1.3 million views. I also host a
website--2reed.net--that minister to double reed players around the
world. In the Hebrew Bible is it written that “many shall run
to
and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” Truly in our day
and
age we are seeing this come about. This is both a wonderful and yet
scary world that we are living in.
I am a person of faith. Almost every day during the school year I
participate in a religious meeting either face to face or online. I
find that daily prayer and Bible reading enriches my life and improves
my mental, spiritual, and physical health. God’s power and
infilling Spirit transforms my life.
I love gardening and many hours in the spring, summer, and fall are
spent in my gardens. For 30 years I have used the “no
till”
method of gardening with lots of ground cover or mulch. Recently this
has been dubbed the “Garden of Eden” or
“Back to
Eden” method. I grow my plants from seed and nurture my
plants
organically. In the winter I also grow sunflower sprouts to eat with my
salads. Yum, they are delicious!
I am an avid reader of online news as well as print books. I read
mostly from a print copy of the Bible, and I also read from print
copies of books on my favorite subjects. I greatly enjoy science
fiction for leisure reading and Liu Cinxin has been my most recent
favorite author because of his connection to China and his brilliant
Sci-Fi writing.
Concerning my family, I lived seven years in Hong Kong with Laurel my
wife, and our first child was born in that country. At the time of this
video my wife and I are close to celebrating 44 years of marriage.
Laurel and I made promises to each other in a marriage ceremony years
ago that we have kept all this time. We are joyfully blessed with two
children and three grandchildren. Laurel is also a musician. She plays
flute and she has a doctoral degree in music.
Well, it is time to get onto the course. Please see the next videos for
important information.
[Music: Hummel Bassoon Concerto with Performers Terry B. Ewell and Peter Amstuz]