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Hello! My name is Morgan Cowin (pronounced and spelled like Cow-IN-the pasture...). I am the president of the International Musical Saw Association (IMSA). I've been playing the saw since 1971 (37 years now!) and I won 1st Place at the "Saw Off Competition" at the 1982 Festival of the Saws in Santa Cruz, California.I am a professional photographer - not a professional musician or performer/entertainer - but I LOVE to play the saw, and I am considered to be one of the best musical saw players in the world. In 2006 I was invited to play my saw in China where I played in two large musical saw concerts in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. In October 2007 I had a similar "World Class Experience" in Japan - where I played with other saw players and musicians in Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama and Nagoya. But mostly I jam with other musicians (not saw players) around the San Francisco Bay Area - several times a week - and I am a volunteer performer with Bread & Roses (an organization that brings music to people who are in hospitals, nursing homes etc.).I was a music minor in college playing classical guitar, but I wanted to also play a melody instrument, and stumbled upon an ad in “The Whole Earth Catalog” for a musical saw. The saw, bow, lessons and case were only $39. Being a sharp student but on a budget - and wanting to be on “the cutting edge” - I recognized real value when I saw it, and ordered one for myself. I fell in LOVE with the beautiful voice of the saw, and it helped to "fine tune" my ear (sense of pitch). Playing the saw is now my favorite therapy (well, in addition to mountain biking).I occasionally play professionally, but usually I play just for fun - in styles including blues, bluegrass, country, folk, Beatles, Paul Simon, rock & roll, NY show tunes, and even classical music (Vivaldi, Boccherini, Haydn, etc.). Some of my favorite times include hanging around a camp fire playing with friends who sing and play various instruments, or with just about anyone else who asks. I enjoy playing along with vocalists (especially female voices), and have played with (deep breath. . . ) accordions, bagpipes, banjo, bass, cello, drums, fiddle, flute, guitar, hammered dulcimer, harp, harpsichord, lute, mandolin, organ, piano, trumpet, ukulele, violin, a professional whistler, xylophone and zither - as well as a whole symphony orchestra.I often give free workshops in playing the musical saw, as part of my job as the president of the IMSA is to "spread the word" and turn people on to the potential of the instrument, and get people started.