People are always asking me...

"What is it that you do, exactly?" That's an excellent question! The shortest answer I can come up with goes thusly: I am a "renaissance" musician, and as such am constantly striving to improve in all areas of music.  Where most musicians focus on one area of music - usually an instrument - I am concerned with music on a larger scale, much the way musicians such as Bach and Bernstein were. I know that still doesn't really answer your question, so let me walk you through my main areas of focus.

Composition

I began dabbling in composition when I was about 12 years old. Because I initially taught myself to both read music and play by ear on the piano around the age of 8, my ability to improvise came very naturally. As I began to better understand what was happening as I would improvise, I took those basic principles and applied them to the music that was constantly bouncing around in my head. Before long, I was successfully putting those ideas on paper, and by the age of 14, I was composing for full orchestra. As I continue to pursue composing, my hope is to bring into circulation high quality music which will continue the tradition that previous composers have had both the burden and privilege to uphold. Above all else, however, it is my hope that, in creating new music, I will create a new medium through which young generations can, once again, connect to the arts.

Conducting

As my concept of the score began to grow and evolve, it was only natural that I should study, more seriously, conducting. After all, any good composer must be equally good at producing an accurate realization (a term I borrow from Gunther Schuller). While I picked up the baton around age 10, it wasn't until I was about 14 - realizing that I possessed a certain amount of natural ability - that I dove, head-first, into the theory behind the art. I began conducting to CDs on a daily basis, standing for hours at a time in front of a mirror, slowly but surely making progress. Four years (and hundreds of hours) later, my form finally jelled. From that point until now, I have had the opportunity to work with various choral groups, direct pit orchestras for shows such as Annie Get Your Gun, produce a kids' music camp, and put together several instrumental ensembles of different sizes. In everything I do, my foremost goal is to bring music to the public at large, to reach out to them, and to embrace them. As I rise to greater opportunities, my hope is that my connection with the audience will become a part of my signature. While most people consider me very young to be conducting, I have to remind them that (a) I don't have a conventional music background, and thus find it to be a natural part of my music studies, and (b) I consider the baton to be as much an instrument as any other, and therefor cannot deny myself any opportunity to use this talent.

Piano

As I mentioned earlier, I first taught myself how to play piano at the age of 8. It is for this reason that, after some careful study, I'm now able to sit down and play just about anything by ear. This has contributed significantly to my studies in composition. While everything I've studied thus far can be traced back to the piano, my musical appetite is not satisfied by piano alone. It is, like any other instrument, a medium through which sound is produced. While I consider it the alpha and omega of the instrument kingdom, the piano represents only a small part of all that I do. I must note that the high points of my time spent at the piano always involve Chopin, whom I consider to be the most prolific of all the composers for piano. Currently, I am studying as a piano performance major, with the intention of pursuing a masters in composition and conducting.

What Does This Mean?

It means that I'm a 19-year-old composer and conductor who can improvise on piano. I've found that I can combine my abilities to produce astounding results, and I plan to continue to hone my abilities until the day that I die. My education in music will always be a continual process. As of now, I'm pursuing any conducting engagements I am offered, and thinking forward to where I will go from here. To end with what we call the "recapitulation," I compose, I conduct, and I even play piano, and that's just the beginning. But to answer your question, that is, for the most part, exactly what I do.