Middendorf, 79, is a lifelong painter. For the last year and a half, he has been sharing his art skills with inmates in the Bristol County House of Correction in Dartmouth. And, as prospective artists, he's pretty high on them. "They're all very talented," he says.

In 1969, President Richard Nixon appointed Middendorf U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands. Returning from that stint, he became under secretary, and then secretary, of the Navy from 1974 to 1981.

In 1981, Middendorf became ambassador to the Organization of American States, but he kept up with his music, writing 19 pieces for Latin American and Caribbean Countries, including the "Venezuelan Fantasy," "Brazilian Triptych," "Mexican Rhapsody," "Simon Bolivar March," and "Song of Trinidad."