Music

About My Music

I have been involved in music, specifically percussion, for over half of my life. I started with just a basic practice pad in my bedroom in second grade, and have moved up to performing in large theaters at my local high school and at my college. In college, I met many great people who are amazing percussionists, and have had the chance to play with artists such as Tracy Thornton, Shane Shanahan, and more. I have composed pieces for solo marimba, percussion ensembles, and other small ensembles.

My previous history of music dates back throughout high school and middle school. I spent my high school mostly developing marching percussion, pit orchestra, and show choir chops. I got the opportunity to serve as a cymbal section member & captain, bass drum 3, as well as the tenor section lead. These different instruments and opportunities helped me gain a better sense of rhythm and tonality, helping keep the tenors and bass drum line in tune. Developing marching techniques is a fundamental part of any good percussionists repertoire and I thoroughly enjoyed learning these along with the rest of the drum line.

Nowadays, I serve as the host of the music for the drum line, and was given the chance to rearrange and publish the music for the line again.

When it comes to theater, I've being given the chance to play drum set, along with some auxiliary percussion for many shows, such as The Wizard of Oz, Seussical, Grease, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Cinderella, The Pajama Game, Legally Blonde (London), Footloose, and All Shook Up. I've gained multiple different techniques, including how to play under a chorus, as well as handling fast changes between instruments. This was especially true in Seussical, where all instruments were acoustic, and, in some extreme cases, had less then a beat to get from one to the next. After high school, I've gotten the chance to play at St. Paul Public Schools, as well as again with Bloomington Public Schools. In 2023, I had the chance to work with Burnsville Community Theater in their first show, and a returning favorite of mine, Legally Blonde (London). All the experiences have been amazing and I'm grateful to be behind the kit in these situations.

Music in College

Further Studies in Instrumental Music

During my time at MSUM, I have developed skills in music theory, composition, conducting, and teaching music. Throughout my life, I have played percussion as my main instrument. Generally speaking, I always stuck to drum set, but ventured on to different pastures during my time at MSUM. While there, I played with the percussion ensemble and the wind ensemble every semester. I was also a founding member and captain of the Dragon Drumline in the year of its conception. I studied fields such as four-mallet marimba, African drum and dance, salsa, Middle Eastern hand drumming, and other world cultures. After leaving MSUM, and suffering injuries in both of my wrists, I have returned to mostly drumset work.

Vocal Studies

I originally went to MSUM with an instrumental emphasis, and decided to add a certificate in vocal music education during my second semester of study. While I love percussion, I believe there is a true healing power within vocal ensembles. The power that lyrics can add to a piece, along with the sound of the pure human voice is like no other. Everyone can sing, and we all should give it a try some day!

Harmony School of Music

From March of 2021 to July, I served as a percussion instructor at Harmony School of Music in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. There, I was given the opportunity to work with students from diverse backgrounds teaching rhythms using the Kodály, Orff, and Dalcroze philosophies. We mainly worked with sticks, and sometimes with buckets to follow rhythms on the projection screen, or to compose our own rhythms and beats as a class.

Compositions

Most of my compositions have been for a four mallet solo marimba. Sundown, Vita et Mors (performance video coming soon), and Sixty-Five are all for solo marimba, but pieces such as La distance entre nous are for full percussion ensemble, including Crotales, 2 Glockenspiels, 2 Vibraphones, 2 Marimbas, and a Bass Marimba. The music for all of these is available by emailing me (see the contact page for information). VST/MIDI Playback of these and more are available on my Bandcamp.

I write my music with Finale and publish the music by myself.

More compositions will be coming soon, and announcements will be made when pieces are released.

Other Musical Endeavours

Outcast Island

Luckily enough, I've been playing drum set for Outcast Island since our founding in March of 2014. We've released one EP, My Misfortune, and have played many shows throughout the Greater Twin Cities. Our genre shifts around from punk, pop punk, rock, metal, and any of the varieties in between.

Worship Music & Church Activities

While I was active in Moorhead, Minnesota, I was given the opportunity to play drums and bass guitar at Valley Christian Church. When it came to drumming, I was recognized as a crucial piece of the puzzle, as well as a simple, yet productive bass guitar player. I also served the church in many other areas, including lights/sound, presentation, and in other volunteer roles that were presented. This time spent helped me gain an immense knowledge and appreciation for both CCM music and for served as a great way to really reconnect with our Lord.

Since returning to the Twin Cities, I have had the chance to serve in the same roles at Minnetonka Seventh-Day Adventist Church with a diverse group of singers, percussionists, pianists, and other instrumentalists in a smaller setting. I continue to work with Minnetonka as a member of the communications team leading website and video development, crafting a modern online presence with testimonials and sermons accessible by the general public.

Solo Guitar and Songwriting

In my spare time, I have been learning guitar and have been writing songs on electric/classical guitar. I am also able to add bass guitar, since I have spent a fair amount of 2020 in class learning how to sight read and process music to substitute as a fill-in for the bass voices in my conducting class. Most of the music is currently just chords, but some of them are beginning to have lyrics, as nowadays, I have begun singing with the choirs at MSUM, in church band, and with Outcast Island.

While I don't plan to release any of this music any time soon, I will be recording some of it, and have released a few covers that are available to listen to via SoundCloud

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