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About Me (under construction)

Early Years

I grew up in Cleveland surrounded by music. My father plays guitar and is a sound engineer, so every car ride was filled with tunes that sparked my love for music from an early age. I began on clarinet in fifth grade, then moved to alto saxophone at the end of the year, but after a summer camp where I played baritone saxophone for the first time, I fell in love with the horn and its sound. I knew I wanted to do something in music. I used my high school years to figure out what kind of music I wanted to play.

High School (2016–2020)

High school was a wonderful time full of music and growth. I played in concert bands such as the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony, the premier youth wind ensemble in Northeast Ohio which would perform regularly at Severance Hall. The Shaker Heights Wind Ensemble which was one of only two high school bands that competed at the AA concert band level and the Symphonic Band. I was selected by one of my school band directors who also conducted an adult civic band to play 2nd chair alto as a high schooler. I also played in jazz ensemble programs like the Shaker Heights Jazz Ensemble and Jazz band, The Jazz at The Music Settlement (J@MS) and the Tri-C JazzFest Academy. In Show Choir bands competing at Show Choir invitationals. In pit orchestras for musicals performed at the school. And in summer camps where I taught and played.

(Director of Jazz for the Shaker Heights School District and the director of the High School Wind Ensemble)

(Former Co-Director of Jazz for the Shaker Heights School District and the director of the High School Symphonic Band)

(Former Director of Chior for the Shaker Heights School District and the director of the High School Show Chior)

(longtime band director and teacher with the Shaker Heights Schools, honored with the 2025 Cleveland Jazz Legend Award for Jazz Education and Performance by the Tri‑C JazzFest)

(7-time Grammy-nominee as a band leader. He is a noted drummer, percussionist, composer, arranger, conductor, producer, educator, documentary filmmaker, and bandleader)

(Kent State University Jazz co-director, Aurora School of Music Director and Tri-C Creative Arts Academy co-director)

These were the teachers that guided me and who I looked up to. Who shaped who I am to this day. During summers, I attended jazz and Afro-Cuban jazz camps, taught at band camps, and worked in the schools band office organizing scores, cleaning instruments and getting ready for the coming school year. Music was year round. An example of how close I was with my mentors, Mario Clopton wouldn’t even ask me to play for the groups he ran, for two years in a row at the beginning of the year while I was in another class he would knock on the door as the other teacher if he could talk to me and say here’s the music for this year and place a packet on my desk. Which was a packet of the Show Choir music and the first musical they were having for the year. I didn’t even have a chance to say no (not that I wanted to say no anyway).

College Years (2020–2024)

I studied jazz and contemporary music at The New School’s College of Performing Arts in New York City. I had the privilege of performing in ensembles led by:

I took my private lessons with David Schnitter, Darius Jones and Marty Ehrlich. Each helped shape my improvisation, composition, and sound exploration.

While going to college, I put my other passion for live sound and music production to work. As my father is a sound engineer I had picked up a few things while shadowing him to his gigs. While in NYC, I joined the student lead, tiny desk inspired Sunday Sessions as a backline assistant and assistant live sound engineer. I also mixed performances for artists and students, set up gear for concerts, and ran PA systems outside the school.

Post Bachelors (2024-)

Since graduating from The New School in 2024, I found a new passion in data analysis, math and tech. To start my new exploration to get a good feel for real world application of what i wanted to do, I earned microcredentials in Excel, Minitab, Power BI, and general data analytics. I liked doing all of that so much that I’m Currently pursuing the Post-Degree Professional Certificate in Data Analytics at Cuyahoga Community College (TRI-C), with a goal of beginning a Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics and Statistics in Fall 2026. As of Oct 2025 I’m still getting everything ready for my application. In the meantime I work as a LAN (Local Area Network) and Desktop Support Technician for an IT company that oversees more than 250 devices and accounts.