About Me
My Background
I have been making music my whole life, starting piano as a toddler, playing trumpet in school, majoring in violin in college, and then teaching as an adult. I've played in string quartets in all venues, marched with my trumpet in heat and snow, and accompanied on fine pianos and broken keyboards. I can roll with about anything!
As a musician, I do it all: perform, teach, accompany, arrange, and write. I am at home in many musical worlds - orchestra, band, vocal, and popular and country music.
Current Roles
I am co-founder of the Johnston Orchestra Club, serving students in the Des Moines metro area.
I have a private lesson studio with piano, violin, and viola students, and I substitute teach for music educators in the Johnston school district.
I coach a string quartet, for whom I write the majority of the arrangements that they play.
I accompany for local schools, both on piano and violin, and occasionally join the first violin section of the Des Moines Community Orchestra.
I perform in a country/rock cover band, called Dirty Champagne., playing keyboard, fiddle, trumpet, and backup vocals. I also enjoy writing the arrangements for our horn section.