At the age of 26, during my tenure as a public transportation lobbyist in Washington, DC, I had a chance encounter with legendary classical guitarist Julian Bream.  This moment would change the course of my life forever.

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No, I didn't actually meet Julian Bream in person.  Rather, I was introduced to Bream -- and the classical guitar more broadly -- while aimlessly searching YouTube videos.  In Bream's documentary "Guitarra:  A Musical Journey Through Spain," I discovered a mode of self-expression that I had no idea I was missing in my life.  Prior to this, I'd always been a fan of music as a listener (primarily Middle Eastern, jazz, indie rock, r&b), but I'd never before listened to classical music with any intentionality, and I had never played a musical instrument before, save for a very brief flirtation with electric guitar at around age 10. 

Suffice it to say that I was instantly hooked by classical music, especially as conveyed by the unique voice of the classical guitar.  After 4 years of on-again, off-again private lessons in classical guitar, I decided at age 30 that classical music was my vocation in life.  In pursuit of the vocational track, I was accepted and enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts in Music program at the University of North Texas starting in the Fall of 2016.  By Fall 2018, I had intended to begin a Master of Music in either classical guitar performance, music history/ethnomusicology, or music theory, but an even greater opportunity arose with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in February 2018.
 

From February 2018 to May 2019, I had served as the Patron Development Manager at the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, a role responsible for a major portion of the Symphony's overall fundraising and ticket sales efforts.  I can't even begin to describe the joy this position brought me, and this website is primarily about my journey as a performing artist, so suffice it to say for now that I worked a typical 9 to 5 job at the Symphony that was anything but typical.  I walked into work everyday (and some days my "office" was Bass Hall) inspired and with a full heart.

In addition, since August 2016, I had served as Director of Development for Fort Worth's local classical guitar society, Guitar Fort Worth (now the Fort Worth Classic Guitar Society).  Currently, I am the Development Manager at the National Dance Institute of New Mexico, and Board Member at Arts Administrators of Color.

I have a B.A. degree in International Relations with a minor in French from the University of San Diego (go Torero class of 2007!).  While I have left politics behind as a profession, I remain engaged as a citizen, particularly concerning topics of public transportation, urban development, affordable housing, and Medicare for All.

When music isn't consuming my every waking moment, I'm an avid bicyclist, voracious fiction reader, and prolific listener of 90s R&B ("Tell me it's real, this feeling that we feel!").