I first played the cello when I was very young, inspired to play by my father who was also a cellist. I was born into a musical family, and music was a way of life. There was either a recording session or concert going on in my house at all times. My first live performance was at a local church playing “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” with my father. I began studying cello performance with the Principal cellist of the Rochester Philharmonic when I was 13. I never limited myself to older music and tried to fit the cello into as many types of music as possible. I like to follow the words of Yo-Yo Ma when he said classical music is really “acoustic music”, and that your a person first, musician second, and cellist third. I have gone on to play in some of the most interesting groups I would have never thought existed. I have played for presidents in a UN ensemble, played with my idols in Carnegie Hall, and have recorded in the best recording studios where The Beatles, Celine Dion, and Billy Joel once played. I never limit myself to a traditional mindset, yet I still follow the structure that my classical tradition has put in place. I love recording in the studio, as I have a record of every moment of it forever. I get to make my arrangements just the way I like them, and with my own time frame.

I enjoy performing because music is the international language which brings us all together. The most important part of playing music is thinking about your audience and how you want them to feel. I am on a constant search for music that excites me. You can find me playing along to Indian ragas, gospel anthems, rap backing tracks, jazz standards, alternative rock, contemporary compositions, Irish Reels, and the search continues. I actively arrange music for the groups I perform with, and compose music for films, dances, video games, and whatever else I can fit the cello into. In my spare time I also enjoy creating visual art, and like to document my travels.