Greeting! I specialize in teaching trumpet, trombone, saxophone and clarinet. I have taught music at practically every level from Pre-Kindergarten through college (three years on staff with the band program at Cornerstone University), and have run multiple successful mid/high school band programs over the course of my 10+ years of teaching. My bands have consistently received 1st division ratings at both the district and state levels of the MSBOA Band & Orchestra Festival. The jazz ensemble – which I started from the ground up – has also had much success in their performances around West Michigan, and the Byron Center High School Marching Band, which I am on staff with, was the 2014 MCBA State Champion in Flight III and has placed in the top 3 every year since.

In 2016, I was honored to receive the BCCS Educator of the Year Award, which was voted on by all of the district teachers and staff. In 2017, I was selected as a finalist for the Grand Valley State University Charter School Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award.

I have performed around West Michigan with numerous ensembles in concert and jazz band settings, and love finding small groups to play with just for fun on the side, such as All Your Bass, a low brass ensemble that I play with that has its own youtube channel (see profile videos) and occasionally performs here in town.

I have received consistent highly effective evaluations from my principals in all of the last five school years.

Music is my thing, but it’s not all of who I am. My biggest hobby outside of music is probably video games! I have all three current mainline consoles and keep up with all of the latest gaming news and releases. My favorite game of all time is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and some of my other favorites include Metroid Prime, Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, Super Mario Galaxy, Portal 2, Hitman 2, and Metal Gear Solid V. If you also enjoy gaming and want to incorporate some game music into your music lessons, I can make that happen!

So that’s a bit about me. If you’re ready to jump in, shoot me a message and let’s see if we’re a good match!