About

I was born into a musical family.  At a very young age, I would sit at the piano and play the tunes that I heard other family members playing or singing.  The number of tunes I heard increased when I attended preschool.  I looked forward to and enjoyed playing the piano before and after school.  It didn’t take long to realize that music would be my best friend for life.

I started piano lessons at age 5, guitar, clarinet, and saxophone lessons in Junior high school, and cello and violin lessons after undergraduate and graduate studies.  In those early days at the piano, I was excited to play music but had difficulty reading music.  Rather than push on, I reverted to playing by ear and composing my own songs.  My piano teacher nurtured my improvisational side while stressing the importance of learning to read music.  I realized its benefits when I was invited to sight-read music along with my friends.  Although reading music has its rewards, I find the greatest joy improvising.

During high school, piano lessons continued, and there were opportunities to learn about other facets of music at competitions, summer music camps and workshops.  I completed undergraduate and graduate degrees in Piano Performance with an emphasis on Music Theory, Improvisation and Composition. Each step of my journey deepened and broadened my appreciation of music.

After retiring from a rewarding career in music performance, my main focus is composition.  My compositions are inspired by a lifetime of musical experiences of all kinds, from performing to attending performances, from solo works to large orchestral works with choir, and from intimate settings to large performance halls.  I am enamored by beautiful melodies from classical to modern composers and am excited to arrange them to reflect my individuality. I continue to play violin and viola in string ensembles and community orchestras and play fiddle in several regional fiddle groups.