My Musical Journey
In my first harp lesson when I was 10 years old, I fell in love with sound. I distinctly remember feeling the vibration of the sound board against my chest which had a profound effect on me. I can’t say why, perhaps because I realized that music was in fact something real I could actually do and not some unattainable magic. Though I still secretly believe that the harp has the most beautiful sound of all, I was drawn to percussion for its wild uninhibited freedom - anything can be a musical instrument, anything you can hit is your instrument.
Though I was torn between the two instruments, I decided to pursue percussion and received a bachelor's degree in percussion from the Colburn School in 2012 with Jack Van Geem, former principal percussionist of the San Francisco Symphony and one of my favorite human beings. He taught me to keep an open mind and be fearless in pursuing what interested me. This led me to apply for a Fulbright Scholarship to study with the incredibly creative percussionist Jean Geoffroy in Lyon, France at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon. I went to France not knowing one word of French and completely immersed myself in another culture and learned the language thanks to the help of wonderful supportive people.
Over the next 9 years I delved into interdisciplinary projects with actors and dancers while getting a master degree, artist diploma, and degree in instrumental pedagogy along the way. I performed diverse programs, ranging from L’ombre des Vagues, a program inspired by Virginia Woolf’s poetry, to Zeee Match, a humorous street theater and music program. I had the opportunity to perform in several countries including Scotland, Portugal, Germany, and France and at wonderful festivals including the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh and the Avignon Festival.
The performance that sticks out the most for me during my time in Europe was for 10 people in a psychiatric hospital of a sound nap. A sound nap is a musical experience where the audience is invited to lie down in order to completely immerse themselves into sound and enter a deep state of tranquility. A man who was shaking from anxiety as he entered the room became completely motionless during the sound nap. More than any performance I have done, I felt as though I had made a difference for someone else by giving them a moment of peace, which is what I hope to keep doing through my sound naps.
I have recently relocated to my childhood town in Northeastern Ohio and though I have had the great fortune to travel and see several beautiful places in the world, to me this place has the most exquisite magical forests as they are filled to the brim with nostalgic memories. I love being here after so many years in the city and am looking forward to the great benefits of being surrounded by nature.
Things I Love
Folktales and fairy tales, crochet, the Ohio autumn, writing, walking in the forest, exploring caves, composing music with my loop pedal, working with dancers.
Things I Dream of Doing
growing a tea garden, making a sound garden with instruments I have created, hiking the Appalachian Trail playing music along the way for fellow hikers, learn to make beautiful ceramics, learn to speak Gaelic