I grew up in Los Angeles where my interest in opera was kindled during a third grade field trip. I played piano from an early age, as well as French horn in the high school band and orchestra. While a student at the University of Michigan I was Music Director for Three Penny Opera and Mother Courage, and studied composition with William Albright, George Caccioppo, and Leslie Bassett. Though primarily interested in opera, my graduate studies in ethnomusicology with William Malm and Judith Becker produced a paper, still cited today in ethnomusicological writings, which received the Charles Seeger Prize from the Society for Ethnomusicology. I recently completed a master's degree in composition at New England Conservatory under Michael Gandolfi.
I composed and improvised music for various productions with an experimental theater company in Boulder, Colorado, before coming to Cornish College of the Arts (Seattle) to teach world music and performance of Javanese gamelan. There, I co-founded the ensemble, Gamelan Pacifica, which performs traditional and new music for Javanese instruments. In 2002 I enrolled in New England Conservatory of Music to pursue a masters degree in composition.
My list of works includes some works in progress as well as completed works available for performance. Some of my work shows influence from the Asian musics I've studied, some reflects more the European and American traditions (both "romantic" and "avant g'arde").