What on earth are you doing playing the saxophone?

Consequently, the most effective question of my middle school years. My band teacher said I should quit saxophone and audition for the District Choir. Shy kid singing with no one around — or so I thought. I took his advice, and call it beginner’s luck, a keen ear or both, I won First Chair. 

I started performing out at 15, and at 16, earned the Maine State “Best Jazz Vocalist” award. Quitting the saxophone was turning out to be good.

Sometimes, you get lucky when a teacher sees something before you do.

After receiving a B.A. in English and in Music, I moved to Boston and coached hundreds of singers, fronted a band that performed around the Northeast, recorded an album in a bathroom, and earned TV placements for my songs in Germany.

I had a vision for New York. I knew I could build a teaching practice there, and become an artist amidst the city canvas. My move was funded by an I.T. company, but after the music-loving CEO hosted a karaoke night, I had it coming:

What on earth are you doing selling I.T. services?

That got me thinking. I learned of a professor at Columbia University who had collaborated with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, which convinced me to apply. I was accepted, won a scholarship, and I.T was out. 

This began the journey of Compass Music Lab; a rival mix of methodic experiments and true-north intuition.

I started traveling between family homes, testing ideas with curious learners while earning an M.A. in Music & Music Education.

After graduation and in the margins between work and teaching, my lunch break became an investigative lab. A 30-day street performance experiment in Central Park led me to a 365-day music-making challenge in the practice rooms at 92NY, down the hall from my office. One day, a knock.

Why on earth haven’t you recorded these songs?

Said renowned jazz artist Brian Landrus in the doorway on his surprise visit. Later, while upstate over New Year’s, I asked my host if I could play the piano. That was GRAMMY-winner Malcolm Burn, who invited me to his studio the next day. Maritime Cowboy was praised by a Sony Music Executives, The Juilliard School, a Nobel Peace Prize Nominee. A slew of listeners and my student’s families funded the work. Things were starting to intertwine. The following year, one hundred six-year-olds became my choir.

Suddenly, I had a powerful glimpse at the dots connecting music, curiosity, cognition and play.

To that end, I spent the better part of the pandemic creating and testing a music puzzle called Mystery Mashup.

Just in time to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Compass: Music Lab, I retired from private teaching. It was time to expand my skills as a strategist, communicator and designer. And it was time to work as a performer again. New to North Carolina, I took a page out of my NYC book - that is, I wandered into a random church to play piano in a peaceful place. That afternoon, late Fall 2022, the Reverend peeked out from a back room.

Where on earth did you come from?

Hence, my journey as church Music Director began, rediscovering my love of Traditional Spirituals & Hymns and singing in sacred spaces.