Educator

My parents are both teachers, and I'm the oldest of three kids: it's no surprise that I have
teaching in my bones.

I received my B.Ed and Ontario Teacher's Certificate in 1997, and though I never went into teaching full-time, education has always been an essential component of my musical career. I've taught or directed groups at the University of Toronto, York University, Etobicoke School for the Arts and Claude Watson School for the Arts, to name a few. As a member of the a cappella vocal band Cadence, I brought music and music education to over 60,000 schoolchildren in Canada, the US, and Asia.

Whatever I'm teaching, my educational mandate is the same: to help discover and develop the musician in everyone, and to share the excitement and passion I feel for music.

Choral Workshops

I give choral adjudication, clinics and masterclasses around the world, for groups of any size drawing upon a number of possible topics which can be customized for any group. For a sampling of available topics,
click here . Highlights include:

Brahadvani Institute, Chennai, India
Numerous choral Workshops throughout Europe
SoJam Vocal Festival, Raleigh, NC
East Coast A Cappella Summit, Boston, MA
National MusicFest, Toronto, ON

Instrumental Clinics

As a multi-instrumentalist, I can also give masterclasses on piano/keyboards and bass. I also play some guitar and drums, which makes me a good choice as a "rhythm section specialist" for jazz bands.

Though not a horn player (I had a brief but disasterous affair with the saxophone in high school) my grounding in bebop scat singing, phrasing and breathing techniques allows me to work easily with horn sections.

Private Lessons

I also teach privately -- when I'm home, that is. I offer lessons in the following:

piano: classical, jazz, contemporary
voice: jazz, contemporary, general vocal technique
electric bass
guitar (beginner/intermediate...
any higher than that, and you'll probably end up teaching me instead!)
musicianship and theory
conducting