bio

I was raised in the upper peninsula of Michigan and the San Francisco Bay Area.  When I was ten, my parents decided to purchase a saxophone for me with the hope that I would play music to work my way through college.  Little did they know that the joy of playing would turn music into a career rather than a part-time job.                                      

I studied at the University of California at Davis as a political science major with my eyes on law school, but music took hold of my life and I transferred to San Francisco State University to study performance on woodwinds.    

In the seventies I went to Paris, France to visit a friend, armed with letters of introduction from the Head of the Department of Music and from the President of the Leblanc Musical Instrument Company.  These letters brought me to the attention of Jacques Desloges and Jean Claude-Diot, my future saxophone and flute teachers, respectively.  I stayed in France, studied at the Sorbonne, and was awarded a Médaille  d’Argent from the Conservatoire National de Versailles.  Returning to the United States, I received a Bachelor of Music Degree in Performance from San Francisco State University.

I have studied privately with

Joe Henderson - World renowned Jazz Artist and Grammy Award Winner
Victor Morosco - Woodwind Recording Artist and Orchestral Musician

Jacques Desloge - Premier Prix Winner for Saxophone at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris, Orchestre Nationale de France, l'Opéra de Paris and soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic
Jean Claude-Diot - Premier Prix Winner for Flute at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Music de Paris, Flautist with the Paris Conservatory Orchestra and with the Orchestre d'île de France
Hal Stein - Acclaimed jazz saxophonist and educator
James Matheson - Oboe and Saxophone with the San Francisco Symphony and Opera
Donald Carroll - Clarinet and Bass Clarinet with the San Francisco Symphony and Opera

Through the years, I’ve had the pleasure of performing in bands aboard Delta, Royal Viking and Norwegian Cruise Lines.  I’ve also played practically every major venue in the Bay Area with groups such as the Peter Minton Orchestra, Don Neely’s Royal Society Jazz Orchestra and with the Concord Pavilion Pops Orchestra, Napa Symphony, Pacific Mozart Ensemble and other orchestras and dance bands.

I’ve also performed with Mel Torme, Neil Sedaka, Toni Tenille (The Captain and Tenille), Jack Jones and Shirley Jones.  I currently freelance in classical ensembles and in jazz, rock and big bands.

At the present time I have a studio in central Walnut Creek where I am fortunate to teach Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Baritone Saxophones, Flute, Clarinet and Bass Clarinet to students of all ages and abilities.  I am also a member of the California Music Educators Association and the American Federation of Musicians, Musicians Union Local 6 in San Francisco. 

 

 

 

 

..... © creative communications .....