---

At 25, David Ross Lawn of Ocean Grove has achieved musical composition accomplishments that are rare for anyone in his age bracket.

The Scotland native recently obtained a master’s degree from Princeton’s Westminster Choir College and has traveled the nation, working with Grammy-nominated Williamson Voices, the Jubilee Singers, and choral commissions in Kansas City and Iowa. He’s also obtained advanced oboe and piano grades certifications from London’s Associated Board of the Royal Schools and Trinity Guildhall and has numerous publishings by GIA and Walton Music.

“Success to me is for one person to come up to me after a performance and say that they felt moved,” Lawn said. “I live for interaction.”

At 6 p.m. Sunday Lawn will celebrate the release of his debut piano solo EP ‘Songs of the Sun’ at Parlor Gallery, located at 717 Cookman Avenue.

The 14-minute compilation explores interaction via minimalist soundscapes inspired by the works of Dustin O’Haloran and Phillip Glass, he said.

“I wanted to create something that would serve as a landscape for people to delve into their own thoughts, to do yoga or dance [for example], ideally something that can spur moments of interaction with the Self,” Lawn said. “The artwork [below] depicts an interaction between the human condition and nature, and I think there’s a lot to be said about how people interact.”

Lawn began playing the piano at age nine on light-up keyboard his mother purchased.

“I started playing theme songs with one hand or finger,” he said. “It was quite amusing but also revealing for her to see that I somehow already understood melodic contour, and could use my ear to work out patterns.”

Initial studies with a heavy-handed teacher left a void until his teenage years, Lawn said.

“It was during these times that I taught myself more piano, and found teachers who were more keen to teach me with a lighter approach,” he said. “As a teacher myself, I now know how to interact positively with students, and not be dogmatic and horrible.”

Lawn was in the midst of a dual honors performance degree when he was awarded the Westminster Choir College scholarship.

“I zoomed across the pond and suddenly I was in a world of wonderful singers, writers and professors, all eager to create and collaborate,” he said.

Today, Lawn has settled into the historic Ocean Grove Community.

“It’s such a beautiful place to find inspiration,” he said. “It’s an incredible area to be an artist. I didn’t expect it to be this way.”

[Photos courtesy of Lawn]

———————————————————–

Follow the Asbury Park Sun on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Asbury Park Sun is affiliated with the triCityNews newspaper.

---