Lesson Feesfrom $20.00 / 30 Minutes
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About
I am an American composer & sound designer and a 15 year veteran band director and music educator of grades 4-12. I taught all of those 15 years in Northeast Oklahoma, but now reside in Southwest Missouri. I am married and we have two amazing kids that keep me busy and challenge my sanity daily.
I earned a Professional Artist Certificate in Composition and Master’s degree in Composition & Technology from the North Carolina School of the Arts as well as a Bachelor’s Degree in Music from the University of Arkansas where I studied bassoon performance and composition. I have earned top honors in composition competitions at the University of Arkansas, the Foundation Orchestra Association, and in 2014 I was honored with two awards from the Boston Metropolitan Opera’s International Contempo Festival. I have been composing works ranging from soloists to large ensembles like band, orchestra, and choir for more than 20 years. Lately, my genre-breaking electro-acoustic scores that incorporate 8-bit sound design and orchestral elements have garnered the attention of ensemble directors worldwide, including Germany, Finland, and Canada.
As a music educator and mentor, I strive to ignite in students a lifelong passion for music. I want students to connect to music in a way that moves them to feel more and be more. If a performer can understand the intricacies of the music, she/he can connect not only at an individual level with the music, but with the audience as well.
I want my students to understand the fundamentals of what makes music sound the way it does, so they can experiment with what they want the music to sound like.
Reviews from Group Classes
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Composing Electronic Music with GarageBand
George R. on June 14, 2022
I learned so much in just one class...Fantastic Tearcher
ASCAP
NAfME
American Composers Forum
Alliance for Women Film Composers
Oklahoma Teaching License - PK-12 General/Vocal Music, PK-12 General/Instrumental Music
Colorado Teaching License - K-12 Music
Prior to each private composing, orchestration, or arranging lesson, I have students listen to a specified selection along with a score of the selection. During the lesson, I will ask the student to comment on various areas and techniques the composer utilized to obtain the sound she or he obtained. Finally, I will give the student an assignment for the next lesson to employ those techniques discussed in the lesson.
For music theory "Tonal Harmony: 8th Edition" Textbook & Workbook
For Orchestration: "The Study of Orchestration, 1st edition" by Samuel Adler
For Bassoon Performance: Beginners - "Rubank Advanced Method for Bassoon, Vol. 1"; Intermediate - "Melodious and Progressive Studies for Bassoon, Book 1 (Professor Emeritus - University of Kansas)" (teal/light green cover); Advanced - J. Weissenborn "Practical Method for Bassoon" (purple cover)