Teaching Philosophy

“Your core belief(s) about the purpose of teaching and learning. A high-level description of how you teach. An explanation of why you teach that way.” (https://pce.sandiego.edu/)

The purpose of teaching and learning music is to help an individual find their unique path to musical expression. Some

I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. At least from the time I went to college, I knew I was collecting information and building a library of knowledge that I’d be sharing some day. I wanted to be a college professor like my dad. That was only reinforced by the 4+ years I spent with my professor, Dr. Anthony DiSanza.

(I still do, for the most part) (retired from teaching voice for many years ) and my mom (retired elementary school music teacher)

Throughout the

That was my job as a student, but I was always planning to

I was around 10 years old when my father finally got a job as a university professor, and it always seemed like the best job to me. My parents are both retired music teachers and I always thought it was the greatest thing ever. Smithton Middle School in Columbia, MO offered a band program and I think I was allowed to choose an instrument. Drums seemed like the obvious choice - they were the “coolest” and I think I just wanted to be “cool”.

and my school offered a band program.

I didn’t think much about it until

fresh out of a Masters degree in voice at UCONN had been freelancing as a singer in Europe for over 10 years (opera, classical voice). I was born and raised in and around Amsterdam until I was 10 and we moved to Columbia, Missouri for my dad’s new job.

and I was born and raised in