I am an active composer that teaches, performs, and engages the whole community of artistic expressions. My academic drive emanates from a thirst to express my musical perspective in our culture, enrich my knowledge through interdisciplinary study, expand my musicality through continued musical study, and establish a collaborative career in the arts. Music does not exist in a vacuum but in a complex swirl of interacting and evolving world cultures. I believe music is far more potent in a collaborative setting, linking different perspectives of our time.

In my collaborations with choreographers there has always been a social idea at play, like “iWant” is about the resistance of a community to accept change. My short chamber opera The Raindance Cafe presents the struggles of young adults to balance parental and societal expectations in their lives with their own desires for self-expression.

New music is once again joining more popular music styles in engaging social commentary. I find great value in music because of its social impact, often becoming the battle anthem for political parties and movements. Works like Beyoncé’s Lemonade communicate more than chords, lyrics, and rhythm, while maintaining popular interest. Popular music may appear simple compared to German Romanticism but further examination of interesting popular music opens up new methods of analysis. For example popular musicians in their choices of guitar amps and pedal, keyboard tone colors, and electronic manipulation have explored timbral choices that, to a large extent, have not been examined in traditional music analysis. In all I create, I want to keep the avenues of expressing my musical voice as vast and varied as possible. We should be as inclusive as possible when listening. I am particularly interested in where these streets of style and genre cross and mingle.

Post premiere picture of choreographer Kelly McGill and me after performance of Elamus