Dr. Kirshenbaum said that the music theory and composition work have come relatively easy. The difficulty is finding the time and he credits his wife, Vivian, for helping him carve the necessary hours out to work on his music while still maintaining a full time medical practice.

He put aside about 10 hours per week to work on his compositions, using a computer program that accelerates the flow of the music and allow him to rewind or fast forward the melodies as he writes them.

He also works with Joshua Fishbein, a composer who teaches music theory at The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University and Towson University. Fishbein said he has been working to fill gaps in Kirshenbaum’s musical knowledge.