Piano Lessons in Mclean, VA

Instruments: Saxophone Flute Clarinet Bassoon

When did you decide to become a professional musician? Was it a gradual decision or was there a defining moment for you?
I made the decision in high school, and I have stuck to it since. Now, where I am now is not how I envisioned it then (I thought I would be playing guitar in a band), but my life has always been about chasing musical fulfillment. Meeting different people, discovering different styles, being exposed to different musical cultures has all had a hand in shaping where I am today, but the central idea of music has been, and will always be constant.

Does music run in your family? Tell us a little about your musical family members.
Professional music doesn't run in my family, but my parents always had music in the house. On my mother's side, my grandfather loved to sing and play guitar, and my grandmother was a dancer. My father's parents were in a travelling Baptist gospel band, which had me raised on folk music. My mother loves to sing, my father is constantly listening to new music. My siblings all play something in the way they see most fulfilling, my sisters are signers and dancers, and my brothers play guitar and drums. I'm the only one who is a professional, but I'm far from the only musician.

If you play more than one instrument, how did you decide to start playing the second? (Or 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc)!
I started on saxophone, and kept playing even after switching to bassoon because I wanted to stay involved in jazz band. In college, I continued even further with jazz band and had instruction on flute and clarinet, because some of the music we played called for doubling. A lot of my freelance work at this time was playing in pit orchestras for musicals, which also require multiple instruments for one person, so I developed a level of comfort on woodwind instruments.

If you weren't a musician what do you think you'd be doing instead?
I would be working with animals in some way! My favorite non-musical job I worked was taking care of the pets in a pet store, and I especially love taking care of birds. I've owned all sorts of pets, and help take care of even more, and I love all of the quirks that come with each species and how differently they interact with everything around them.

What is your favorite style/genre of music to play and why?
My favorite to play is classical, because that is what I'm trained to do best. I feel very at home and comfortable sitting in an orchestra, and it is an excellent outlet for my instrument to function in. Because of my time spent playing in classical orchestras, I've developed a deep love for the music played by them, and feel like I'm contributing to a long history. I also love playing jazz, and specifically improvising, for the exact opposite reasons. There's a methodology to improvising, but so much of it is personal and only exists in the moment, and I think that's really beautiful and fun.

Read More