In
the course of my musical life, the vast majority of my creative
activity has involved playing the cello. As a kid, I played in
the
Portland
Youth Philharmonic,
and was a student of Beverly LeBeck. Then I went off to Northwestern
University, where I earned my Bachelor of Music, studying with Hans Jørgen Jensen. He
encouraged me to study with Ron
Leonard,
and I spent two years with him at USC, but not
before I spent two years in Louisville Kentucky where I earned my
Master of Music, played in the
Louisville Orchestra, and studied with Susie Onwood (a former Leonard
student) and then spent another two years at the Moscow
Conservatory, where I studied with
Dmitri Miller. In 1999, I moved to Washington D.C. and became
an active free-lance musician. I played regularly with the
Washington Opera and the National Symphony, as well as with many of the
regional orchestras and chamber groups there. With violinist Lina
Bahn,
I started the Mount Pleasant Chamber Players, which was awarded an NEA
grant. Some of the tracks below are from a program Lina and I prepared
for the 2003 International Gaudeamus Interpreter's Competition. 