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After a successful two year battle with Leukemia and a Bone Marrow Transplant, I'm back and better than ever. #takethatcancer
I have been fortunate enough in my life to be a cog in many creative endeavors, in many different capacities. I have been on-stage, backstage, inside the ensembles and in front of them. These experiences have helped shape me into the musician and artist that I am today.
After attending university, I performed professionally for six years in musical theater and opera, and a few seasons as Music Director of a theater company outside of Chicago. At this point I had come to a fork in the road; do I pursue a conducting career or a performance career? Feeling that I had more to offer as a conductor and feeling more artistic fulfillment in that field, the choice was clear.
In 2009, I started to make my way up the instrumental conducting ladder here in New York City. You will see from my resume that I have had a fantastic amount of opportunity to build a creative and eclectic repertoire list. I have hit all the various marks, from standard orchestral works like Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 to lesser known pieces like Two Cine Pastrali by Toru Takemitsu. I pride myself in programing outside of the box, in order to create an experience for the audience to venture through with the ensemble.
I feel that every concert experience should allow the audience to feel and not think. Having always struggled with the term “tone poem”, I feel like all music should set a scene, or create an environment around us that transports us to another place. A place without cell phones, without stress, and without the MTA. By using my background of performing and score study, I feel like I can offer a unique mix of artistic integrity, technical know-how, and storytelling. Are you ready for the ride?
If you look throughout history, in every culture, the one thing that will always bring people together are stories. Well, and food, but that’s a different bio. Sitting down and trading stories and swapping tales is part of humanity. It’s who we are. It’s our journeys through life that molds us. It marks us, and often in ways we don’t realize. I want to make it my goal to use music to pull those experiences to the surface so that we can share in them together.
Of course, I would be remiss to write a bio without accrediting the people who have taught me what I know and helped in molding my career and artistic outlook; Dale Clevenger and Gail Williams- French horn performance, Dr. Carolyn Barber and Dr. Mallory Thompson- conducting, Dr. Gary Kent Walth- choral techniques, and Jean Saladino- vocal pedagogy.
Thank you for taking the time to read through my bio, and indulging me in my personal outlook on music artistry. I am always looking for new projects to collaborate on, and if you would like to work with me, please visit my contact page.
And remember, “Just tell the story”.