Bio

Presently I live and work in Philadelphia and hold two Master's degrees from the Peabody Institute for Music, one in Lute Performance and the other in Musicology, as well as a Bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Music has been the foundation of my life since before I can remember. As a child my parents raised me singing music from the Renaissance, Baroque, and even Barbershop styles around the piano every weekend. In keeping with the theme of childhood, musical indoctrination, they signed me up for violin lessons at the ripe, old age of 4 years old.

During my years at elementary and high school at Germantown Friends School, I began lessons with Robert DePasquale, whose expert instruction virtually insured my regular appearance as a soloist at school assemblies and concerts. At this same time, I discovered a primitive, half-plastic lute in my parents' collection of instruments. While I continued my practice on the violin, I'd found a new love in the delicate strains of the Renaissance lute. 

While I studied the liberal arts at the University of Pennsylvania, I pursued lessons with Philadelphia Orchestra guest artist Ghislaine Fleischmann and I performed in a variety of ensembles including the Penn Symphony. I also regularly lead the Penn Singers Pit Orchestra as well as the Chinese Music Society as concert master, the latter of which I eventually became the musical director in my senior year. At the same time I began conducting lessons with Jonathan Coopersmith, the Dean of Musical Studies at the Curtis Institute of Music. My lute practice was not far behind, as I began practicing continuo in the Penn Baroque Ensemble under the auspices of Gwyn Roberts. 

While I began refining my musical abilities as a number of Early Music festivals, including Amherst and the Lute Society of America, I also advanced my studies in conducting at the Bard Summer Conductor's Institute under the directorship of Maestro Harold Farberman, as well as at the Temple Sings Summer Seminar in Choral Conducting under Maestro Paul Rardin. 

At the Peabody Institute for Music, I pursued a Master's degree in Lute Performance under Richard Stone and Mark Cudek as well as a Master's in Musicology with the help of Dr. Richard Giarusso. Simultaneously I pursued lessons in the Baroque Violin with Risa Browder and conducting lessons with Maestro Harlan Parker. In both academic and performative veins of study, I have focused my efforts on understanding the lute's disappearance as well as the nuances of historically informed performance practices of the past.

During my stay at Peabody, I performed regularly with the Baltimore Baroque Band and the Peabody Renaissance Ensemble, as well as in the Early Music Department's productions of Charpentier's La descente d'Orphée aux enfers and Cavalli's La Calisto. I have also toured as a guest artist with the Peabody Renaissance Ensemble to perform internationally at the Festival Conciertos de la Villa de Santo Domingo.