I love being a teacher. Nothing brings me more joy than working with my students, whether in my private studio or in my classroom!

ETHOS

I accept that the majority of the students I have taught and will teach throughout my career will not become professional musicians or major recording artists. It is my goal, regardless of any singers’ future aspirations, to foster my choristers into strong musicians who can not only read music; but can also transform music from the page into a tangible emotive experience. It is my aspiration that through the learning process: large group choral rehearsal, sectional rehearsals, individual chorister practice time, and the choral performance, that the chorister becomes a musician who buys into the shared artistic vision with their fellow performers to the audience. I believe that through this process, we all: conductor, accompanist, chorister, and audience become the beneficiaries of the emotional spirit of the artistic process.

To this regard, I have become a choral music educator who creates experiences for the choral students in my classroom that is rich in performance opportunities in the greater community that they live in. As a teacher who believes in collaboration, I believe that fostering strong, positive relationships with the choral music teachers in the neighboring school systems allow my fellow colleagues, as well as our students, opportunities to share their experiences with other students which in turn is a valuable tool for building a stronger musical community.

Looking forward to the future of music education, I look forward to incorporating social emotional learning to the choral rehearsal through large and small group discussions. I honor the world of my students and embrace my students who are LGBTQ as well as from other ethnic, religious, as well as socioeconomic backgrounds. The importance of understanding the narrative our students bring to the classroom will allow for educators to create links from their world to the subject matter of the lesson at hand.

music education experience

• California State University, Dominguez Hills; Carson, CA

• Pinelands Regional School District; Tuckerton, NJ

• Chesterfield County Public Schools; Chesterfield, VA

• The Collegiate School; Richmond, VA

• Henrico County Public Schools; Henrico, VA

• Shenandoah County Public Schools; Quicksburg, VA

• James Madison University; Harrisonburg, VA

• Ewing Township Public Schools; Ewing, NJ

Interest Session Powerpoint Presentations

• California Choral Directors Association Summer Retreat 2023 (ECCO)