I am a professional cellist and string music teacher and I am passionate about helping others enjoy making music. I have worked with students of all skill levels, ages 4 to 85, and my patient and encouraging teaching style ensures that all of my students succeed.
In 2012, I received a Master of Music degree in cello performance with an emphasis on string music education from the Ohio State University, where I worked with Juilliard-trained cellist Mark Rudoff and world-renowned string pedagogue Robert Gillespie. Prior to Ohio, I completed a Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Oregon, where I studied with another Juilliard-trained cellist, Steven Pologe, and graduated summa cum laude in music education and cello performance.
I am an experienced music teacher, having worked with hundreds of students in private, small group, and large orchestral settings. I’m comfortable teaching not only cello, but violin, viola, and bass as well, and have had a private teaching studio for the past fifteen years. Having moved to Hawaii in Summer 2017, I now work for the Hawaii Youth Symphony as the Academy String Program Coordinator and as the lead teacher for their new violin class on the Waianae coast. From 2018-2019, I served as the Orchestra Director at Saint Louis School, and prior to that, I created a new beginning strings program at Red Hill Elementary, and was a substitute music teacher at Punahou School and a regular guest strings teacher at ʻIolani School. Before moving to Hawaii, I was on the strings faculty at the American Conservatory of Paris in France. While living in Ohio, I earned a K-12 Music Teaching License and was the Orchestra Director for the Grandview Heights City School District. I also served as a music coach and operations coordinator for the Columbus Youth Symphony, and was a regular teacher at the Ohio State University Summer String Student Workshop.
I have performed with a number of orchestras, including the Ashland Symphony, Mansfield Symphony, McConnell Arts Center Chamber Orchestra, New Albany Symphony, and Newark-Granville Symphony. As a chamber musician with the Sinombre Piano Trio, I was an MTNA National Chamber Music Finalist in 2009, and I have performed with dozens of other chamber groups over the past fifteen years.
And finally, I’m a cellist, but I’m not just a classical musician. Driven partly by my own interests and partly by those of my students, I have explored many different musical genres in my cello playing, including recording music for rock bands and learning fiddling, jazz, and solo and group improvisation techniques from such legends as Mark Wood and Christian Howes. I am eager to help my students develop a solid foundation in music while allowing them to explore different genres and interests and find what makes them passionate about music.