I guess I am a WASP.  They say success comes easier for us.  Our American classical audiences reward us for “refined” Mozart and Chopin.  We can however, get snubbed for performing Gershwin or music with ethnic content beyond conservative ragtime.  But Arts editors face endless droves of waspy looking white guys in classical music trying to get noticed.  And nothing prepared me for the prejudice I would encounter after finally landing a photo that actually caught their eye.  My Liszt in Leather photo got print almost everywhere I sent it.  Media pros got interested, while waspier patrons got quick, uninformed, “refined” opinions.  Beethoven, Liszt and many other famous composers hated the intricate prejudices of their patrons.  I might not have learned as much about uninformed prejudice, including my own, had I not presented Liszt as a historic ancestor to our rock stars.  Ancient Mayans left behind 13 Crystal Skulls they thought would be found when mankind evolved enough to understand these Skulls’ contents.  Five Skulls have been located so far.  When faced with crisis, even wasps can evolve.  Whether all 13 Skulls are ever recovered and deciphered, the legend itself  an help any of us unravel our own metaphoric Skulls within.  Gershwin was similar to Liszt in that he was one of many composers to discover that evolving new personas for the stage can help evolve composers towards “their great unknown.”  For instance, think about an all black cast for Porgy and Bess.