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About Me

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          I am a music composer, technologist, improviser, and keyboard/synth player.  Currently I am entering my first year at the University of Miami Frost School of Music in their M.M. Media Scoring and Production Program.   I completed my bachelors in music as a Composition and TIMARA (Technology in Music and Related Arts) double major at Oberlin Conservatory.  In Composition, I studied under Dr. Stephen Hartke, and worked with Jesse Jones, Amy Beth Kirsten, and Elizabeth Ogognek.  In TIMARA, I studied under Ami Dang and Arie Hsu, and worked with Abby Aresty, Tom Lopez, Peter Swendsen and Eli Stine.  Before Oberlin, I graduated from the Juilliard Pre-College program in Composition, studying under Dr. Ira Taxin for composition and under Dr. Ernest Barretta for piano.  Through my extensive training during my five years at Juilliard, I was able to test out of all levels of music theory classes at Oberlin and pursue the highest level courses in theory.  I was employed by the conservatory to teach theory as a tutor to all levels of students at Oberlin.  I was also part of a three-person team, under Prof. Joseph Lubben, that were teaching assistants for the Oberlin Music Theory Jumpstart program: a groundbreaking six week virtual course designed to prepare students from Oberlin and outside Oberlin to excel in and prepare for college/conservatory-level Music Theory.  I also provided secondary TIMARA lessons for students not majoring in the program at Oberlin.  My most exciting job at Oberlin was being a research assistant, working with TIMARA’s technology director Abby Aresty, in the Crafting Sound Lab at the conservatory.  Specifically, I was working on a project called “Of Earth and Sun”, which is an audio installation in Pittsburg, PA that creates a sonic environment of nature sounds that mimic the nature of the city using weather and time information.  I spent most of my time editing the audio files that were used in this installation, as well as organizing them based on their traits.  I am now based in Miami, Florida pursuing a graduate degree at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, and plan to graduate in May of 2024.

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         My skills and experience are in diverse musical areas, ranging across avant-garde and experimental music, progressive rock, solo and ensemble performance, free improvisation, interface design, multi-media composition and performance, orchestration and music theory.  I have written music for large and small ensembles, solo instruments, live electronics, installations, and electroacoustic music.  My compositional style is driven by research and experimentation with sound and synthesizers, the perception of sound, sonic environments, extended performance techniques, noise, film scoring, and song-writing/poetry composition.  As an improviser, I perform on piano, keyboards and synths.

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         A big part of who I am and what I do is shaped by my autism.  As such, I am an advocate and supporter of autistic and neurodivergent people everywhere.  I am currently  

working on an unnamed application codenamed “Music for Children” that is for neurodivergent children to be able to make and understand music using tactile friendly controls. The app randomly produces music from a computer source that can be manipulated through Tempo, Rhythm, Timbre, and Harmony using tactile inputs.  This project was used for my Junior TIMARA recital where various musicians improvised with the app onstage, producing a unique and memorable performance and an understanding of how the app works.  My 2022 Senior recital for TIMARA will consist of a live concert of a concept album about my autistic journey through music and life.  I also work with autistic and neurodivergent children during break and summers from home in Robbinsville, NJ at the Mercer County Special Services School District: Joseph F. Cappella school in West Windsor, NJ.  There I am certified as a substitute teacher and aide. Being autistic is an integral part of my life and being an advocate for others on the spectrum is intertwined in everything I do.  My goal is to be a role model for others in the community as to what can be accomplished working through social barriers and interacting with the world using the talents you have.  I try to consider myself an ambassador/integrator to the neurotypical world so they can understand what its like to experience life as myself and others in my community do, while encouraging that integration.

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         Along the way, I have been recognized by various contests and programs.  Among these, I was lucky enough to have studied at a music festival internationally before COVID-19, at the highSCORE Festival in Pavia Italy, under Amy Beth Kirsten, David Ludwig and Dimitri Tymoczko during the summer of 2019.  I am a  BUTI (Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute) alumni as a composition program attendee, and a Curtis Institute Summerfest composition program alumni as well. I have also been involved with the American Composers Forum’s NextNotes high school composition contest as an award winner in 2018 and have been a five time finalist for the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Awards. Tribeca New Music named me as an “Emerging Composer” and my work has been performed at the NYC Electroacoustic Music Festival.  I was also a National Young Arts Foundation Honorable Mention award winner, among other awards and merits.

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         In my down time, I am also a synth player in a Prog band with other students/friends, an audiophile, an avid movie watcher and critic, plus a very deep thought conversationalist.  As for my future, the door is wide open.  I know I will be involved in music, production, sound and technology and it will be done in a way that I hope will be inclusive, and kind.

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