My name is Taris L. Flashpaw and I was born on Nov. 24, 1981 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. During my childhood, I had constant exposure to music, mostly pop and disco (ABBA and the Bee Gees). I had no musical training until I began to learn the recorder in grade five from Mrs. Kim Comrie. The following year, I learned the Bb clarinet and joined my elementary school band. I continued to play the clarinet until grade twelve. In grade eight, I met my first musical mentor, Dr. Tony Gallo. He expanded my knowledge of the musical world and eventually began fostering my skills in composition.

Upon graduating from elementary school, I attended Bell High School and became very involved in their music program with the outstanding directors, Mr. Tim Stanutz (instrumental) and Mrs. Meredith Ward (vocal). In my first year, I joined the free-for-all concert choir and performed in their musical revue "Celebration". In addition, I joined the Junior Concert Band and the Junior Jazz ensemble.

The following year, I joined the mission chorus of our school's production of the musicale "Guys and Dolls" as well as the choir and the band. In grade eleven, I was a senior and so, I joined the Senior Concert Band. I also joined the auditioned Vocal Jazz ensemble and the "male" ensemble (quotation marks used because of the great number of female tenors) in addition to the choir. That year, I was drafted into the pit orchestra for our production of Cole Porter's "Anything Goes". It was during this year that I composed my first real piece of music: "Cello Fantasia in D minor".

The following year, I was again to be found in the choir and the Senior Band, as well as Vocal Jazz and the "Male" Ensemble (renamed that year to the "Bear-i-tones"). I also performed the role of "First Cockney Man" in our performance of "My Fair Lady". That year, I enrolled in a course that was offered every other year called "Music and Computers" with Mr. Mark Cerisano. In that course, I learned to use sequencing programs and I learned about the physics of music as well as the electronics that I use to make my music. As an optional project that year, he asked me if I would like to compose a piece for our school's string ensemble, Senior Band and Concert Choir. I accepted (this was the first big work I had ever attempted to write) and set to work on a three-month project entitled "Magnificat Anima Mea" (My Soul Doth Magnify). The piece was eventually rehearsed by the groups and the final massed rehearsal was recorded for my private evaluation. I knew very little about scoring for large ensembles, so Magnificat wasn't quite what I expected it to be. I plan to do a revision of it in the future.

In my final year of high school, I was no longer to play the clarinet in the Senior Band because I was no longer taking instrumental music. I had decided to pursue working on my voice in Mrs. Meredith Ward's senior vocal class. I was a member of every choral ensemble I could get into, however. This included Vocal Jazz, the Bear-i-tones, the 12-member Festival Ensemble and a male triple trio. I also played the part of Ewart Dunlop in the barbershop quartet in our production of Meredith Willson's "The Music Man". It was during this year that I met my second musical mentor: Mr. Gary Hayes from the CBC. He fostered my compositional skills and because of him, I met many members of Ottawa's musical community, including orchestra musicians Gerald Corey (Bassoon) and Francine Schutzman (oboe/english horn). With Gary, I began work on Symphony #1 in B minor which may be receiving its world premiere in Ottawa in May of 2001 thanks to Gerald Corey and the Espace Musique New Music Society of Ottawa.

In addition, that year I also was required to compose a piece of music for my Independent Study in Mrs. Ward's vocal class. For this, I set out to compose my best choral work yet. I selected the text of the "Dies Irae" from the Catholic Requiem Mass (Mass for the Dead) and scored it for four-part chorus and synthesizer (or electric piano).

That brings us to the summer of 2000. I had read about a Christian Choral Composition Competition in the United States and so I decided to compose a piece for it as well. The requirements were "a piece for middle-school choir". This meant a three-part choir instead of my usual four-part choir. For this I composed "O Magnum Mysterium", a piece describing the wonder and mystery of the birth of the Baby Jesus.

In November of 2000, I made a friend that would change my life. His name was Leo and he lives in Pittsburgh, PA.. I met him online while visiting one of my high school friends, Daniel. Over the next few nights, he introduced me to the world of furry. For those reading this who aren't furry, furry is a lifestyle that revolves around a spiritual connection with animals, or an interest in anthropomorphic animals (or "anthros"). Anthros are animals that have human characteristics. It includes classic characters like Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny. For some (like me), however, it involves a more spiritual connection that goes beyond just cartoons and artwork. It approaches something more like Native American totemism where one's life is guided by one or more animal spirits. That November, I emerged into the furry world as Liontaris the lion.

The following December, I fell in love for the first time ever. Realizing that I was gay, I fell in love with my high school friend, Daniel. Sadly, on the same day, I also seem to have fallen in love with another fur online from Québec City named Coffy. In February (on Valentine's Day), Daniel and I broke up for reasons I won't go into here, but Coffy and I remained together. In May, Coffy left on a research expedition to Malaysia, and while he was down there, he broke up with me on July 10, 2001 by email.

During my short time as a fur, I have made many very dear friends from all over the world. But none will be so dear to me as the wolf from Halifax, NS that I met on February 4, 2001. His name was Lycan Glasswalker Wolf (who has since evolved into Lycan Taris T Wolf). At first, we were just friends, but I realized that I was falling in love with him. His voice was very seductive and relaxing. I could listen to him recite the phone book and still be just riveted. I found that through all my problems and my toughest times, I was turning to him to cheer me up. He was always the wind beneath my wings, so to speak, and that made me love him even more. On July 22, 2001, we fell in love and became partners. Soon thereafter, he began making plans to move to live with me in Ottawa, and on September 28, we met in person for the first time at the Greyhound Central Station in Ottawa, ON, and began our lives living together. That evening, after our first date, we were walking around scenic Downtown Ottawa, and in a small park behind Christ Church Cathedral on Sparks Street, he proposed to me. I accepted immediately and since then we have been happily engaged.

In August of 2002, my furry identity changed greatly. My former wolven spirit guide came back to me and I transformed into Taris L Flashpaw, the grey werewolf. Lycan was very supportive (and I think he liked having another wolf around).

Also in August of 2002, I got my first job with Jungle Beans in Ottawa. They're a company that sells Beanie Babies, and I loved working for them. However, due to family problems that I won't divulge here, I was forced to leave home to preserve my and Lycan's mental health and security. From Ottawa, we moved on September 17th, 2002, to Halifax, NS, and stayed with Lycan's very kind parents, Eric and Heather. On October 1st, we acquired our own apartment in Highfield Park over in Dartmouth (just across the harbour from Halifax), and we're living very happily in our new den.

   Return to Flashpaw Music Studios Home