Music is the driving force of my existance.  Far more than notes on a page, jingles jittering through a cieling speaker at Sears, or just another commodity bought and sold on the market music is the creation of that which changes our very being.

I have trained my musicical skills through my voice and my instrument for over 12 years. I studied under two great masters. Kenneth Fruedigman, a celebrated classical cellist gifted me a sense of order and discipline which has allowed me to develop my craft to the level it now is.  Ralph Miles Jones III, a transinstrumental wind player and world-traveled interpreter of the spiritual musics of African and Afro-Atlantic peoples taught me the freedom to express the rhythms, blues and melodies which move my soul.

I work holistically. I believe that every person has the right to an education that suits them.  It doesn't always have to be comfortable, but it has to be for them.  Thus, I tailor each lesson to the strengths and weaknesses of each student however my teaching methods revolve around a few core principals which I will elaborate upon below: total experience in the music, technical excellence, self-care, and extra-musical skills.  

Total experience in the music:

I try to have my students understand music as a menas in which thier being realtes to the world.  As such it is very important that they have a global understanding of the music which comes through their instrument.  As suchm it is very important to me that the student do whatever they may to research, listend to, understand, and work with all kinds of musics from all parts of the world.  

I also work with W. A. Mathieu's The Harmonic Experiece that they might learn to find a sense of where the sounds that they produce with their instrument find their place in the world.  This helps them develop the sense of calm but extremely focused listening required for musical endevours.  

Self-care:

I work with my students that they understand how to take care of themselves.  I understand that music will not be the sole concern of the lives of my students, and that the stressors of life can manifest as tension in the body causing pain or injury in a devoted student.  The passion for music I hope to inspire requires a certain athleticism of the small muscle.  I hope to work with students to care for the little muscles and tensions that become worried by life that they may share their gifts of music for as long of their time on this earth as possible.

Extra-musical skills:

I like my students to be well-rouneded people able to experience the fullness of the arts.  I encourage my students to go out and exprience the world of art beyond the practice room that they know where their work fits in the global context of the arts in general.

Music is my life, my road, my first love.  It would be an honor to allow a few students a means of working that which has carried me through the brilliance of my life journey.