I am a multifaceted musician and educator who’s been working in the field of music for 5 years now. Growing up in Philadelphia allowed me many opportunities to learn; from jazz to classical, rock and folk, recording techniques and of course how to educate. Growing around so many awesome minds in the city of Philadelphia, it allowed me to see many different styles and approaches to educating.

I started my education career at The Philadelphia Kimmel Center of Performing Arts. For 3 years, I cycled through many different schools in the Philadelphia area teaching music appreciation, theory, jazz history, guitar, Orff Instruments and more. This was a great opportunity to work with students of all demographics including ESL. During this time, my goal was to learn how to best get students engaged, active and caring about music. As a teacher, one can make a student learn but true success is found when the student wants to learn.

During this time at the Kimmel Center, I was also earning my degree at University of the Arts. UARTS provided a great opportunity to learn whatever was desired as opposed to being placed on a track with no opportunity to branch out. Here I met two very influential professors in terms of pursuing a vocal career; Justin Binek for Jazz studies and Paul Adkins for classical studies. With these two professors who are experts in their field, I developed a great fusion of styles over my four years of Undergrad.

I returned to UARTS for an additional year, to pursue a Masters Degree in Music Education. Education is such an integral part of my life and music in the world as a whole, earning a Masters Degree helped me develop further and cement ideas and beliefs which I had been formulating years prior. This year as opposed to others allowed for me to nurture deeper connections to my students. While at the Kimmel Center, I was Teaching Artist, maybe seeing a school 2 or 3 times a year. A majority of this year though was spent doing fieldwork/student teaching and teaching private lessons. The following summer after graduation, I took on a long-term position at Play On, Philly! as a teaching artist, teaching Vocal, Music Theory and Musicianship.

Alongside of my education career, I feel it’s very important to cultivate experiences in the world of performing. Bringing these experiences and stories to a classroom can really bring a new dynamic. I have worked with professionals from all genres and styles. Such people Include; Questlove, Ben Folds, Ladysmith Black Mabazo, Philadelphia Orchestra, Andrea Bochelli and Christian McBride. Though I am rooted in classical music, my interest and pursuits span far beyond that. This is also reflected in my teaching style and musical repertoire I bring to my students. It’s important for students to gain many experiences because everything cyclical and can bring a new approach to something familiar.