Cellist, Vocalist, Teacher
I am classically trained (San Francisco Conservatory of Music; studied with Bonnie Hampton) and also play various genres including Balkan, Klezmer, Bluegrass, Jazz, and Pop. I love to sing. I love to sing and play the cello simultaneously. From 2004-2015 I played, sang, co-managed and promoted Real Vocal String Quartet, a world music string & vocal ensemble that pushed the string quartet boundaries. With RVSQ I performed at Stern Grove Festival opening for Kronos Quartet, toured overseas through the US State Department program, American Music Abroad, and was featured with a cover photo and article in Strings Magazine. We also recorded with Feist for her 2011 album, Metals, playing with her on the Tonight Show at the Coachella Music Festival.
I have played for theater and dance, composing original scores and performing in new and classic works. I have performed in Death of a Salesman and The Bright River (A Traveling Jewish Theatre, San Francisco), A Little Night Music, The Last Five Years (A.C.T. San Francisco); The Orphan of Zhao (A.C.T. San Francisco & La Jolla Playhouse); An Audience with Meow Meow, Pericles: Prince of Tyre, and Figaro (Berkeley Repertory Theatre) and in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Post Street Theatre, SF).
I have also performed or recorded with musicians I admire including Taylor Mac, Jenny Lewis, Father John Misty, David J, Bauhaus, Feist, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Journey, Ty Seagull, Sic Alps, Mikal Cronin, Thao & the Get Down Stay Down, Mirah, Vienna Teng, Beats Antique, Beth Custer, and Amy X Nueburg. I recorded on Grammy nominated album, Blueprint of a Lady, for jazz vocalist, Neena Freelon.
No shows booked at the moment.
My teaching experience is rich and varied, and I work with students from diverse backgrounds and with a range of music levels, ages and instruments. I have over 20 years of instructional experience in the classroom, with private students, as chamber music coach, orchestra conductor and in educational outreach workshops.
Currently I teach elementary music with a focus on strings in Oakland Unified School District. I also teach chamber ensembles from Classical to Jazz to original and arranged compositions at Las Positas College in Livermore, CA. Previous teaching positions include:
Piedmont Unified School District * Ross Valley School District, Fairfax and San Anselmo, CA * College of Marin, Kentfield, CA * San Francisco Unified School District * Community Music Center, San Francisco * Various Bay Area classes for strings, voice and class improvisation* Los Angeles Unified School District
As a teaching artist with San Francisco Symphony’s Adventures in Music I led musical outreach programs in San Francisco Unified School District elementary schools. With Real Vocal String Quartet, I led string improvisation workshops at University of Delaware, Cal Poly Pomona, Eastern Illinois University, Colorado Mountain Colleges, and at American String Teachers Association Conferences.
Read my article in Strings about teaching: “BACK TO SCHOOL – Learning to teach well required more than just my performance experience.”