"I am a graduate from the University of Iowa, where I received a BM in Clarinet Performance.

I started piano at the age of four, studying at the Preucil School of Music. At the age of eight, I became the Level A winner of the Iowa Music Teachers Association’s piano competition. I continued playing piano in college, and after graduation, taught rock piano at the School of Rock as well as classical piano at a local studio in Iowa.

As a clarinetist, I have played at Carnegie Hall as part of the Young Adult Honors Performance Series band and in the Orfeo Music Festival in Vipiteno, Italy. I attended Drake University, studying Clarinet Performance and Magazine Media, and then transferred to the University of Iowa. I have studied with Bart Yates, Clarence Padilla, Michael Dean, and Jorge Montilla Moreno. Recently, I have played in masterclasses for Anton Rist and Jonathan Hadas.

Currently, I play clarinet and saxophone in local theatre and opera productions including Three Decembers, Footloose the Musical, and The Drowsy Chaperone. I also teach piano and clarinet at a local studio in Eastern Iowa. I have experience teaching kids as young as four to adults. I love teaching adults and would love to add more adult learners to my schedule!

Personally, I believe that learning music should be a fun and enjoyable experience. I don't like when kids come in and feel forced to play and practice at home. I try to incorporate technical skills with fun music. I have had kids come in with sheet music to their favorite pop song to learn, and I have written out sheet music from various shows and movies as a way to motivate kids to practice and show them that music should be enjoyable. I can tell that kids get frustrated when they are just starting out at an instrument, and that is when they are most likely to get discouraged and quit. Instead, I try to talk to my students and figure out why they started music and what excites them to play and work towards smaller goals." less...