I was born on March 11, 1970. It was a cold day in Mount Clemens, Michigan, a suburb north of Detroit. The wind whipped across Lake Michigan, driving it into a frothy... All right, all right. Here's the info you're looking for:
Began studying piano at age 9, cello at age 10, trumpet at age 12 and guitar at age 15, although I've forgotten most everything about cello and trumpet by now.
Sometime in September 1983, while playing for the Hurricanes in the West Windsor-Plainsboro Recreational Soccer League, I scored the only goal of my soccer career- 1 of just 2 goals scored that year against the Teamen, eventual league champions.
Had my first date with Elizabeth Cummins, who was later to become my wife, on November 18, 1989.
Began giving piano and guitar lessons in 1991 while at Rutgers University.
Studied classical piano with Wanda Maximilien, Rosemond Van Der Linde and Paul Scheid, and jazz piano with Dick Turner.
Studied classical guitar with Robert Trent and jazz guitar with Tom Gavornik.
Studied composition and electronic music with Ron Surak.
Graduated from Rutgers with a BA in music in 1993.
Released a CD of original music, Tea Leaves, in 1996.
Moved to San Francisco in 1997 and traded stock options for a few years. Really. It was just like that scene in the Orange Juice Futures Pit at the end of Trading Places. Nutty.
Wrote the liner notes for Patch Kit, a CD by The Noah Baerman Trio, featuring Ron Carter and Ben Riley, on Lemel Music, released summer 2003. It's a great record.
Wrote the instructional method Beginning Piano for Adults, published by Workshop Arts, a subsidiary of Alfred Publishing Company, Inc., published fall 2003. More info on the media page.
Took a road trip around the continent with my lovely wife, Beth and our dog, Plato, from June, 2003 to March, 2004. You can read all about it here. At the end of that trip, I realized that my heart did not belong to stock options, but to piano and the instruction thereof. I got back into teaching and built a studio with, at its peak, 42 students.
On October 17, 2008, we bought a house in Jersey City and moved back to New Jersey. I miss my California students very much, but I am enjoying meeting new students in the Northern Jersey area. Plus, I got to meet Sophia Rosoff and eventually she accepted me as a full-time student. She's the shizzle. Go ahead, google her.