A little about me

    I am senior cellist and a music education major at Utah State University. I began my musical studies at the age of eleven in the sixth grade and began my private cello studies with the local high school orchestra conductor, Karen Hendricks, by my thirteenth year. By fifteen years of age, I was able to begin studying under Anne Francis from the Fry Street Quartet. Throughout my high school years, I was able to attend Rocky Ridge Music Center and Madeline Island Music Festival. At these festivals, I was able to collaborate with many other musicians in Chamber and Orchestral settings. During my senior year at Logan High School, I was able to compete and gain the opportunity to play the Haydn C major cello concerto in the concerto competition. This experience in the concerto competition solidified my desires to become a professional cellist.
    Studying at Utah State University was by far the best four years of my life and education. Here, I was able to meet great musicians and professors and work with the Fry Street Quartet exclusively. Every year, I was assigned a chamber group with a piece of music in which to work. In addition to rehearsals, each chamber group was assigned a coach from the quartet to provide extensive instruction. Orchestral studies at Utah State were a great experience that involved collaborative projects like Mozart's, Magic Flute, and Mendelssohn's, A Midsummer Nights Dream with the opera and theater program. The orchestra also had the opportunity to perform Mahler's 5th Symphony in collaboration with the University of Utah.
    It was not until my undergraduate Junior year that I realized the necessity of combining Music Performance with Music Education. I started as performance major for the first two years of university study but then began to cultivate the desire to become a teacher. By this time, a private studio had been formed (one on one private instruction with middle school cello students) and clinical experiences had given me a few chances to teach in a classroom setting.
     Now, as a undergraduate Senior nearing completion of my teaching degree, I am ready to open all doors both through the student teaching experience and graduate school study in cello, to become the best teacher and performer I can be.