I began composing music in the mid 1990’s as an outlet and avocation. Here’s a summary of my work.

WALDEN

In 1997, I set myself to record a CD based on Walden, authored by Henry David Thoreau. I had no commercial aspirations and the music I think shows it. The CD is reflective, introverted and generally not too interested in impressing the listener. My goal was to follow where the ideas might lead. Many of the tracks are based on improvisations I reworked into through-written pieces complete with written score.

Ken Pedersen’s Walden was released in 1998

Walden was released in 1998 on my own label Symark Records. I decided to send it out to some of the prominent (at the time) New Age publications and reviewers. I was surprised to find a good reception. In short order I had a distributor for the alternative music and book store market and received some nice published notices. Subsequently I received a good amount of alternative radio play as well. Walden was noticed enough to be named on the ‘Top 50 CDs of the Year’ by Backroads, and it made a brief appearance on the New Age Voice music charts. Walden found a niche in the Thoreau community and is still sold at the Shop at Walden Pond.  I was invited there to give a concert based on my Thoreau improvisations which was a highlight of the whole adventure.

With the positive feedback I was receiving, I decided to composed and record a second CD which I called Deja Views. The idea was to take well know claasical tunes as a basic for each track and to explore them in a New Age sensibility. Given that I had gotten some modest commercial success, my goals for the project included exploring if I might be able to open more commercial doors with this recording. Recordings like the Mozart Effect were doing well and the using of classical themes like those from Pachelbel were a familiar way to engage an audience.

Ken Pedersen’s Deja Views was released in 1999

DEJA VIEWS

With Deja Views, I used acoustic samples to accompany my piano and also collaborated with Judy Stone on cello for two of the tracks. There are more upbeat tracks (for new age music, that is) and in general the music is a bit more outgoing. Indeed the CD did find an audience. It was in the Top 10 on the NAV charts for six months, charted as high as #3 and appeared on NAV for nearly a year. My distributor was able to place Deja Views in many of the music chains including Borders and Tower Records nationally.

The record also was popular with radio, with over 600 stations playing it. I was featured on a number of programs and even had recorded audio FAQ on which I recorded answers so that radio hosts could conduct a virtual simulated interview with me. This was played in Chicago, Cleveland and on the Voice of America radio among other stations. In recent years, both Deja Views and Walden have been picked up by digital radio, with DMX and Sirius among its biggest recurring players.

The attention this CD received led to some discussions with several New Age labels that had international distribution, but they didn’t come together. Record stores were feeling the impact of digital competition. They started reducing SKUs and New Age music was one of the first to be cut deeply. Luckily, Amazon.com makes it possible to offer both the physical and digital versions of the music, not to forget the impact of itunes as well.

Ken Pedersen’s ‘The Dance Left Behind’ was included in the Heart Aid Project

Heart Aid Project

In 2002, I was invited to contribute a track to a compilation by the name of The Heart Aid Project. The CD was part of a fund-raiser for 9/11 survivors. Other composers include great names like Ray Lynch (“Deep Breakfast”), John Boswell (“Trust”) and Robin Spielberg, Michael Hoppe, Suzanne Ciana, and Windham Hill’s Ira Stein. The project was put together by Spring Hill.

Here is the Chicago Tribune story about my 1999 concert in which I invited talented Glenbard South musicians to join me on stage. Click here for a rehearsal picture.

Sometimes you get a gift. I worked hard to write a post for a leading CIO site. One day, Time Magazine Online had excerpted my CIOUpdate.com article. Here’s the synopsis I posted upon publication.

How to Keep Business Projects on Track

Also, see my post on this topic on the Geneca blog.

An effective shared vision is tough like a shipyard rope

Read my latest article in CioUpdate.com, Common Vision is the Best Kind of Alignment. The point: it is not just about getting the team to follow your vision. Rather, enrich that vision with the contributions and knowledge of others. By doing so, you create a shared, more durable understanding — and execution team — that can stand up to the challenges confronting project execution.

Two themes in how I approach professional life in the dimensions of Clarity of Purpose and Commitment. On this page, I discuss my thoughts on ‘Clarity of Purpose.’

Clarity of Purpose

Execution is more important than strategy. Strategy ideas are out there for the finding. Indeed, the noise around strategic thinking is overwhelming. You get started in one direction and next thing you know someone or something is advising you of the better New Thing you should be doing.  So, for me, the trump card that drives value is to identify the One Thing that customers care about that you can do best, and then relentlessly organize around that.

When you do that well, you discover the world of details that matter and you master them so the Your Way becomes second nature. When you do it with clarity of purpose, you evolve from ‘flavor of the day’ to a unique, rarified French sauce. The serving you worried might be too small becomes a world of rich opportunity. It is amazing how much opportunity lies directly before us if we slow down our gaze. Organizations need the rudder of Clarity of Purpose to avoid flitting from one thing to another.

This is the perspective I bring to my work whether it is marketing-, execution-  or IT-related. I look for the Clarity of Purpose and organize to cut through the noise. The opportunities get bigger and bigger as our world seems less and less able to focus deeply.

A Place to Make and Honor Commitments

I am lucky to work at Geneca.  It is a rare consulting firm that invests more energy in figuring out how to ensure client success than maximizing its billings. Geneca has absolutely unreasonable hiring standards and thus we are always starved for talented people who understand teamwork and what it is to work in a commitment-based company. The flip side is that Geneca has the most talented group of software consulting people I’ve been around.

My role is to ensure that the people who do the client work have what they need to succeed and focus their energies on client success. In addition, I do my best to contribute to the ongoing development of commitment principles I co-authored with Bob Zimmerman in 2002. My current focus is on deepening our understanding and execution of what it means to be a Commitment-based company.

Raising the Bar for In-home Sales

I consulted with Luna Carpet in 2006 and then joined as its CIO. I assumed the additional title of COO in 2007 assuming oversight of sales and customer service. It was my first experience with a B2C company in a leadership role. We accomplished a whole lot while I was there and I thank Morrie and Steve DeZara for the opportunity to contribute to a big change in how the state-of-the-art of that business was conducted. Luna won the Chicago Tribune ‘Best Workplaces’ award for 2010 which was a terrific accomplishment for a company in that industry as well.

I played a key role in bringing to life Steve’s idea for an in-home tablet-based selling tool. This is years before the ipad was in the picture. Together he, I and the IT team delivered Luna’s ‘SureQuote Technology‘ which proved to be a difference maker for Luna and a breakthrough in the field of in-home sales. We also brought analytics to the assignment of inbound leads which had a substantial impact on profitability. During my time there, we opened Luna’s first expansion market in Baltimore and exceeded expectations in that market by a wide margin. After I left, Luna continue to open new markets and the success of the expansion plan ‘encouraged’ arch-competitor ‘Empire Today’ to finally just buy out Luna at the end of 2011 and remove the persistent thorn in its side after many years of competition.

New Age Voice, April 1998

Pedersen draws his inspiration for this album directly from the famous book by the same name written by Thoreau. His piano breathes life into the writer’s passages, like the quiet rippling of the wind on the surface of the water with the sunlight dancing off of its sparkling in the morning.

Listen to the wind in the trees and the birds flying among them singing. And then we get to the place where joy so overwhelms the man who appreciates the beauty of nature that he is freespirited to dance in the woods alone, making his own melodies and rhythms from all the life surrounding him.

This is an album which is played with simple, yet expressive structures. His notes and chords convey the impressions of the simple pleasures of a day in the woods without any special effects, just elegant and well played melodies.

-Dan Liss

* * *

New Age Retailer, March 1998

Rarely has an artist-owned label released such beautifully packaged, soundly themed, and perfectly produced music. Using Thoreau’s devotion to the wildwoods area known as Walden as a means of melding natural and philosophical themes, solo pianist Pedersen has lovingly crafted an utterly gorgeous selection of pastoral melodies that engender deep feelings of tranquillity and repose.

It’s amazing he can actually play keyboards at all, since part of one of his fingers was amputated in a skill saw accident. “It was a miracle that only one finger was hurt,” he notes, and attributes his admirably inventive performance style to having to “get creative” in order to share the melodies he often hears in dreams. Beginning with a motif or improvisation, Pedersen then composes the formal elements using classical principles of development. He says “the result is easy to enjoy, while providing substance for those who want to look deeper. Tracks like ‘Solitude’s Companion’ and ‘Simplicity’s Prayer’ are about as New Age as you can get, while the ‘Uncommon Hour’ (a duet with Russian cellist Martine Benmann) has an added classical underpinning. I believe there is an audience out there that hungers for the next step in musical refinement in a New Age package. I hope they see my music as that step.”

A philosophy major who became an Assistant Visiting Professor at Purdue University, Pedersen went on to write three books, two film scores, and numerous compositions for musical theatre. Recently retired as President of the Glen Ellyn District 89 school board, Pedersen notes “We get so focused on careers, sometimes we let our own well being get swept away in society’s tidal wave. It takes true bravery to value one’s family and oneself enough to act against that tide. That was a key point for Thoreau’s philosophy.”

-P J Birosik

* * *

NAPRA Review, Spring 1998

While the title of this album may be a bit hackneyed for our market, the performance of these brilliant solo piano compositions certainly is not. Each piece is a gem of repose and response to nature, hence “Walden.” The cover is a photograph of water with leaves floating on it, a la Monet’s mural “Nymphias” — quite lovely — and the liner notes are heavily sprinkled with Thoreau’s more famous and pertinent quotes. A sure sell to the solo piano market, New Age or classical.

-Peggy Randall

* * *

Wind & Wire Magazine, November 1997

From the first notes on his debut recording, Walden, Ken Pedersen makes it clear that this listening experience will be one of warmth, understated drama, and poignant beauty. Ken involves the listener emotionally via his heartfelt compositions and expressive playing.

The first two cuts (which are indicative of the majority of Walden), ‘Simplicity’s Prayer,’ and ‘The Leavetaking,’ are slower numbers in the vein of George Winston’s impressionism, but the compositions are, at times, less minimalist than Winston can be at times. Even after just two songs, it’s evident that great care has been taken in this making this CD. The piano sounds less ‘bright’ than it does on some solo releases. The result for me was that I turned my receiver up farther than normal. However, when I did, the sound quality was very lifelike.

Ken sometimes lightens the mood and speeds up the tempo, such as on ‘Day at Walden Pond’ which brings to mind images of sunny autumn walks in the woods. Ken’s playing is much less ‘pop’ structured than someone like Jim Chappell (which is no knock on Jim – read my review of Acadia in issue one for proof of that). It’s definitely a more tone-poem compositional process. Overall, the album strikes a subdued and reflective note but seldom, if ever, a melancholic one. That’s obvious on ‘Neighbor to the Birds,’ a jaunty (but not demonstrably so) and light-hearted piece that, at times, has a very classical sound to it.

Ken collaborates with other musicians on two songs. ‘A Waltz in the Woods,’ features Jeff Kust’s acoustic guitar. This song is a bit of a departure from the remainder of the album. Here the sound is almost Baroque sounding as Ken and Jeff play off each other in a spirited fashion. The song has an edge to it that flirts with mystery but usually comes closer to playfulness.

Cellist Martine Benmann lends her able support to ‘Uncommon Hour’ and her cello is right out front, not hidden in the background. If the song sounds classical to you, it should. It’s based on the Prelude from J.S. Bach’s Suite No. 1 in G Minor for Unaccompanied Cello, except the cello is accompanied here. If you dislike classical music, this song may not go down well with you. Personally, I liked it.

Ken did a nice job on the details, too, like the liner notes (quotes from Thoreau’s writings), front and back cover artwork (quite beautiful, actually, in my opinion) and overall graphic layout of the insert. One would have a hard time perceiving this as an artist’s recording debut. Walden is as accomplished a CD as you’re likely to hear this year.

-Bill Binkleman

Syndicated Programs

• Canal Plus Television
• Dish CD
• DMX Radio Network
• Music For Peace
• CKUA Radio Network
• Music Choice (24 hr. satellite channel)
• ‘The Morning Program’ Minn. Public Radio
• Acoustic Digest
• Into the Mystic

Alaska

• Ketchikan/KRBD
• Bethel/KYUK
• Kodiak/KMXT
• Nome/KNOM
• Valdez/KCHU
• Fairbanks/KUAC
• Anchorage/KNBA

Arkansas

• State University/KASU #1!!!
• Jonesboro/KABF

Arizona

• Tucson/KXCI

California

• Fresno/KFRF
• Santa Rosa/KWMR
• Talmage/KZYX
• Talmage/KZYZ
• South Lake Tahoe/KTHO
• Nevada City/KVMR
• Mission Viejo/KSBR
• Redondo Beach/KCLA
• Berkeley/KPFA
• Eureka/KQEX
• Citrus Heights/KSSJ
• Turlock/KCSS
• Sacramento/KCBL
• ·

Canada

• Edmonton/CKUA
• Maniwaki/CHGA
• CKUA Radio Network

Colorado

• Ignacio/KSUT
• Aspen/KDNK

Colorado (cont.)

• Denver/KHIH

Connecticut

• Monroe/WMNR
• Shelton/WRXC
• Kent/WGSK
• Guilford/WGRS

Delaware

• Newark/WVUD

Florida

• Melbourne/WFIT
• Naples/WGUF
• Tallahassee/WAMF

Hawaii

• Kaapa/KUAI

Idaho

• Rexburg/KRIC
• Boise/KBSU
• Boise/KBSX

Illinois

• Carbondale/WDBX
• Chicago/WOUI
• Glen Ellyn/WDCB

Indiana

• Fort Wayne/WBNI
• Indianapolis/WICR (1.8 million listeners!)

Iowa

• Davenport/KALA
• Cedar Rapids/KCCK
• Burlington/KCPS
• ·

Kansas

• Garden City/KANZ

Kentucky

• Bowling Green/WKYU
• ·

Louisana

• Monroe/KEDM

Maryland

• Towson/WTMD

Massachusetts

• Cambridge/WMBR (One hour feature!)
• Medford/WMFO
• Manchaug/WCUW
• Worchester/WICN
• Provincetown/WOMR

Michigan

• Grand Rapids/WFRG

Minnesota

• Duluth/KUMD

Missouri

• Cape Girardeau/KRCU
• Kansas City/KCUR

Mississippi

• Hattiesburg/WUSM

Nebraska

• Lincoln/KZUM
• Lincoln/KUCV

New Hampshire

• Durham/WUNH
• Keene/WKNH
• New London/WSCS
• Plymouth/WPCR

New Mexico

• Portales/KMTH
• Portales/KENW
• Socorro/KTEK
• Gallup/KGLP  #2!
• Las Cruces/KRWG

New York

• Binghamton/WSKG
• Syracuse/WAER
• North Salem/WXCI
• West Point/WKDT
• White Plains/WFAS
• Staten Island/WSIA
• Poughkepsie/WVKR
• New Palz/WFNP

North Carolina

• Roanoke Rapids/WZRU
• Fayetteville/WFSS

North Dakota

• Fargo/KDSU

Oklahoma

• Norman/KGOU
• Stillwater/KOSU

Ohio

• Ada/WONB
• Kent/WKSU

Oregon

• Grants Pass/KRRM
• Portland/KOPM (1.9 million listeners!)
• McMinnville/KSLC

Pennsylvania

• Catasauqua/WDIY
• Pittsburgh/WYEP

Rhode Island

• Newport/WADK

South Carolina

• Greenville/WMUU

South Dakota

• Canton/KAUR
• Brookings/KESD

Tennessee

• Henderson/WFHC
• Memphis/WKNO
• Chattanooga/WUTC

Texas

• Harlington/KMBH
• Lubbock/KOHM

Utah

• Jordan/KRCL

Virginia

• Monterey/WVLS
• Richmond/WCVE

Washington

• Lynnwood/KSER

West Virginia

• Dunmore/WVMR

Wisconsin

• Milwaukee/WYMS
• Milwaukee/WMSE
• ·

Review of Deja Views

Wind & Wire Magazine

April ’99

Ken Pedersen

Deja Views

Symark Records/1999

New Acoustic

Ken Pedersen has taken inspiration from twelve well-known classical pieces and created original works from them. This is a little audacious when you think about it, but Pedersen has created a real masterpiece! I expected actual arrangements of the various classics, but most tracks only hint of their original sources, and the new compositions are fresh and contemporary. This isn’t ‘Switched-On Bach ‘99’ by any stretch of the imagination! Several of the pieces are augmented with synth instrumentation, two are duets with cellist Judy Stone, and several were improvised in the studio to reflect Pedersen’s performing style. I’ve been hearing some incredible piano CDs lately, but this one rises right to the top.

The ‘inspirations’ come from all eras of piano music from Bach and Handel to Philip Glass, and the titles reflect significant moments in life. There are several favorite selections, but ‘Quest’ is such a soaring and yet gently flowing duet for piano and cello that I think it’s my top pick; its inspiration came from a rhythmic pattern used by Glass. Another real stand-out is the lively ‘Mind Candy’, inspired by the Shaker melody, ‘Simple Gifts’ – a joyous romp for piano and wind quartet that reminds me a little of Ray Lynch’s ‘Celestial Soda Pop’ in its buoyancy. I had doubts that anyone could bring anything new to the Pachelbel ‘Canon’, so ‘Reunion’ was a delightful surprise! ‘Autumn Rose’ is also a fun discovery with Pedersen’s joining of MacDowell’s ‘To a Wild Rose’ and Foster’s Oh Susanna’! The two themes run in and out of Pedersen’s piano improvisation and work perfectly together. ‘Tomorrow’s Memory’ was inspired by the often-murdered ‘Moonlight Sonata’ (it’s a piano teacher talking here!); the flowing triplets in the bass are about the only recognizable part of the original, and Pedersen’s expressive touch and emotional power make this an incredible piece. Wow! Each piece is strong and lovingly crafted in its own right, and the CD as a whole has a wonderful flow with warm, soothing qualities that should satisfy fans and non-fans of classical music. This is one of the best CDs I’ve heard!

– Kathy Parsons