THE TRI-CENTRIC FOUNDATION was conceived and started to further the vision embodied in my work as a composer and improviser. That vision is a synthesis of the many different musical traditions and cultures and experiences that make up the American culture. The elements with which I work to forge a body of music that is universal in nature include the American song form; the American folk and blues traditions; the trans-Asian, trans-African, trans-European, and Native American traditions; and the American experimental and concert traditions. I seek the universal principles and expressions common to these elements rather than their differences, to forge a transpersonal expression that is true to my own life in this culture and, hopefully, relevant to that of others. I try to cover individual, group, synthesis, and architectural (form) postulations in terms of both my own and universal goals and targets, to "restructure" existing musical premises to render them more faithful to current human needs and situations.

In terms of form building, "vibrational" or philosophical dynamics, my music and music system is very much influenced by the writings of "perennial wisdom," from those of the ancient Egyptian and European peoples down to their counterparts in the present. As such, in this time period when I talk of my music I talk not so much of a single composition or instrumental performance as I do of the system of my music: a Tri-Partial Model that seeks to cast perceptual, vibrational, and ritual dynamics in a context that will establish fresh possibilities for fusing as we begin to move into the post-Aristotelian Aquarian era of the Third Millenium.

Accordingly, the mission of the Tri-Centric Foundation is itself tri-metric: that is, it is concerned with 1) my work, 2) work by others in direct service to my work, and 3) work by others similar in nature to my work.

The Tri-Centric Foundation therefore seeks to advance and perpetuate the body of music and the theoretical system from which it has developed, and to acknowledge and support such work done by others. To that end, it seeks to

• establish a regular working ensemble to rehearse and publicly perform my compositions and those by others (more specifically, men, women, and youths) conceived in a likeminded system and spirit;

• to publish and distribute (by sale and/or rental and/or freely) my writings, those of others about my work, and those of others about similar work; and to publish and make likewise available my scores for performance and recording by others;

• to develop a platform of grants, scholarships, and internships that may be awarded to men, women, and youth for composing, for other aspects of musical creativity, and -- in the understanding that music is fed by and reflective of the world as a whole -- for general higher education.