August 2019 Update

It’s hard to believe that the summer is almost over and a new school year is about to begin! As always, time has flown by but it’s mostly because of being busy with things that I would like to do- so I can’t complain. Musically, this summer was highlighted by a trip to Crested Butte, Colorado (pictured above) with Fifth House Ensemble for another performance of Journey LIVE and performing with the Milwaukee Symphony on a live play-along to The Empire Strikes Back. It was great to perform with my wonderful local symphony and to accompany such an iconic movie for enthusiastic crowds! The trip to Crested Butte was surreal because after performing with the music festival there in 2011, I really didn’t think I’d find another opportunity to see that beautiful place again- much less being able to play music there again! It was also wonderful to be able to visit with one of my great college teachers, Gary Cook, while I was there.

This summer was also filled with visiting family and friends, working on my house, and doing several performances around town with students in the UWM Marimba Band. We had a great time hitting the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Chudnow Museum of Yesteryear, a couple of retirement communities, and participating in Make Music Milwaukee.

The end of last school year featured performances at the Wisconsin Percussive Arts Society Day of Percussion, both as a performer with Cross//Hatch and directing the UWM Percussion Ensemble performance. I also had a month-long run of Carmina Burana at the Skylight Theatre and performed at the North American Saxophone Alliance Regional Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana with my saxophone colleague Nicki Roman.