Todd Rundgren, Meshuggah, and Bach!

My strongest suit is the ability to teach the discipline and craft of being a musician, while imparting the joy and love that keeps us playing. During my musical upbringing, I was lucky enough to be taught by a number of incredible musicians that helped me turn my love for music into a joyful lifelong pursuit!

I started playing as a young child since my parents are both professional musicians, and my dad is a drummer. After they got me started, I went on to study music and earned my Bachelors and Masters Degrees in music at Juilliard.

I play on Gretsch and Yamaha drums, Yamaha timpani, and a Marimba One Marimba.

Discipline! Once I started thinking of practicing as part of my daily ritual, it became much easier to build my life around it.

The percussion instruments are special in so many ways! First and foremost, we play in every genre of music, and get to use full-body coordination to express ourselves. Also, the drums have an incredible dynamic range, from almost inaudibly soft, to loud enough to fill up a concert hall!

I love working with kids, and have a lot of experience working with them. First and foremost, I make sure that each student knows that the whole point is having fun, and that it's alright to make some mistakes along the way! That's how you know you're trying. After all, it's called PLAYING music!

This is a hard one, but I think it was touring the Middle East with an orchestra a few years ago. Touring is a blast because it combines the fun of travel and seeing new places, with the fun of playing music!

I've been lucky enough to perform at Carnegie Hall dozens of times with a variety of groups, and every time its been special.

Jeff Buckley - Grace. I've listened all the way through 100s of times, and I will probably listen through 100s more. An all around classic!

I love the outdoors, and am a serious runner. When I'm not working, I'm almost definitely out in the mountains running!

Classical, Rock, Pop, Broadway, Metal

New York Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of New York, Foxanne, Atlas Bloom

Release more original compositions, compose music for film/video games

Trail Running, Nature, History, Geopolitics

My strongest suit is the ability to teach the discipline and craft of being a musician, while imparting the joy and love that keeps us playing. During my musical upbringing, I was lucky enough to be taught by a number of incredible musicians that helped me turn my love for music into a joyful lifelong pursuit!