About Me

I grew up in the beautiful Pacific Northwest on the Olympic Peninsula. I attended Seattle Pacific University for my Bachelor’s in piano performance. My Master’s Degree (also in piano) led me to Boston University. I have had the opportunity to live and experience several locales including Colorado, Chicago, Argentina, and now. . . South Carolina. My husband Ed, also a lifelong professional musician and educator, and I came south to be near our grandchildren.  

My musical career has included a wide range of opportunities including work as associate conductor and co-founder of the Columbia Children’s Choirs and the Olympic Boys Choir. I have founded several organizations to support the arts in my communities including a Brown Bag Concert series in Colorado, a Bi-lingual choir festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Broadway musicals and musical revues at UIC College Preparatory High School and Walter Payton College Preparatory High School in Chicago. My Payton choirs had the opportunity to tour internationally in Argentina and Iceland. In addition to my choral conducting and musical theater directing, I enjoy playing chamber music and doing gigs with my musical husband.

My work at UIC College Prep in Chicago yielded a stimulating 6-year longitudinal study with the Northwestern University Neuroscience Lab on the effects of classroom music study on the cognitive development of urban, under-served teenage brains ages 14 - 18. Some of the findings are detailed in the book, Of Sound Mind: How Our Brain Constructs a Meaningful Sonic World by Dr. Nina Kraus. I continue to explore research and materials on the intersection of music and neuroscience and employ related strategies to my teaching. 

Ed and I enjoy a good workout at the gym, cooking, and gardening in our free time.