1. Are there any specific projects or performances you participated in that you are particularly proud of?

      There are a few past projects that I am really proud of. In February, I produced a Tiny Desk submission for a now GrammyU nominated band known as “The Millers” for a song called “Overtime.” In August of last year, I scored my friend Chazzel Ferbol’s NYU Sights and Sounds Film “Redamancy”, which went on to win the “Best Screenplay Dialogue” award at the Flight Deck Film Festival, an Honorable Mention for Best Short Screenplay, and got screened with a Q&A at the Wild Geese Gallery NYC. However, the project I am most proud of is founding the NYU GenAudio & AI Club with some PhD students, because it’s an ongoing community where we’re bridging people of all different backgrounds together to harness their interests in artificial intelligence as it intersects with music technology, and managed to get a great deal of industry involvement in the process. As for performances, I am proud of every performance I do with my acapella group Mass Transit. We recently just had our closing performance of the year, and it was really fun!

2. Where do you see yourself in five years?

    I have no idea. Right now I’m in the AI space doing research and development for a VST company that is partnered with AI advisors to the European Union, as well the American Association of Independent Music. I’m also on the advisory board of a new AR platform. I just composed for a musical and a couple of films. And that’s pretty cool because I’m getting to do all this while still in school. But I don’t know if these bubbles will last. I do know that I want to be in a place where I’m helping musicians, building tech that helps them, or advocating directly for them. During my freshman summer, I did A&R (Artist & Repertoire) for a startup booking agency that made a point of artist advocacy in light of such a cutthroat and selective industry. That defined where I want to be right now and in the future. What we need are more people and tools that are going to advocate for the musician’s creativity and ability to make money off of their own work. Especially as AI takes more hold of an artist’s ability to advocate for themselves, both for the better and for the worse. I’m a musician first and foremost, so I want a world that is better for all of us.

3. What advice would you give to other students?

       Go to as many conferences as you can to network. We all do incredible things here, but no one will recognize it outside of school if you don’t put yourself out there. Tons of conferences love student volunteers and you can get VIP passes for doing that. I really think it’s worth it, even if you miss class for it, because it’s really important for finding work or performance opportunities later down the line. Conferences are the reason I got my start in the music tech world outside NYU. I like AES, The Digilogue, Mondo.NYC (local conferences) and SXSW (in Austin). Make sure that you’re saying hi to everyone at these conferences and building your network.

If you get invited or asked to do a project, find a way to do it!

Don’t ever ask someone for a job or performance opportunity outright, talk about your interests instead. Get a recruiter/interviewer to want you. It is especially helpful to post on LinkedIn (or other social platforms) about your interests. Turn your passion into your career by posting or reposting about it in a meaningful way. It helps a lot with job opportunities and you’ll become a thought leader in your own right. You want your future employers to want YOU.