As a teacher and mentor, I strive to develop within my students the drive and the skills they need so that when they discover their passion - be it anything from music to sports - they will have the self-confidence and knowledge they need to pursue their vision, and I hope it will lead them to amazing places!

I began playing violin in fifth grade as a part of our school orchestra. My orchestra teacher, Mrs. Barnes, found out that I planned to join band the following year. With some creative convincing she ultimately got me to give sixth grade orchestra a shot. I could always switch to band after the first few weeks, she said, if I decided that orchestra really wasn't for me.

As it turns out, my decision to stay with orchestra changed the entire future course of my life. All of the musical opportunities I’ve had can be traced back to the fact that I stayed with orchestra as a 6th grader - from touring with a band across much of the country, to journeying abroad with an orchestra, to arranging music that was performed by full symphony orchestras around the world, and to all the amazing people I’ve met and great friends I’ve made along the way - it’s all thanks to the fact that I stuck with the violin.

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In high school I studied violin with Dr. Andrew Galos. In attendance at Carleton College, I studied with Mary Horozaniecki for four years while I earned my BA in Music (2008) with a focus on music composition. In 2007-2008 I was concertmaster of the Carleton College Orchestra and I performed in an ensemble as a part of a world music concert with Gao Hong and Friends. Upon returning to Seattle, I worked with Seattle Music Partners as a teaching-artist for seven years, teaching group lessons and overseeing volunteer tutor sessions. From 2014-2017 I was the arranger/orchestrator for the Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses concert tour, and wrote seven new arrangements for full symphony orchestra. In 2018 I wrote and recorded a number of arrangements for the Faint Peter album: The Numbers Tell Us So, and have contributed my services as a recording musician to albums and songs released by Tyler Edwards and Lizzie Weber, among others. Currently I’m working on a couple of different projects including an upcoming album with Tyler Edwards, and writing, performing, and recording with my band Aester.