My Mission
My mission as a composer is to move people with my music and to inspire young minds to pursue their dreams.

Inspiring Through My Compositions
As a composer I feel that my most important job is to be able to move individuals with my music on some sort of emotional level. When I was a sophomore in high school I remember my first major choral experience that changed my life. I was singing with our upper mixed ensemble, Requiem arranged by Craig Hella Johnson. Myself, along with everyone around me, began to cry. I had no idea that music could move an individual so much and so deeply through its timbre, words, communal and personal meaning. From that day forth, I was inspired to begin composing in order to give other individuals that same experience that I had felt. Performing a composition should be a meaningful moment full of passion. Music is not meant to be performed in a lifeless manner; instead, it should be doused with the human experience so that others can connect with it as well. Long story short, if an ensemble and audience are connecting to my composition, I know that I have done my job right.

Inspiring Young Minds
Personally, I feel that one of the most important things to do, no matter how old one is, is to dream about what is probable, possible and impossible. I hope that through my life story and how I lead my life I will be able to show students that they too can reach their dreams and do what they wish. I truly believe that every individual has a small flame within him or her that consists of something special which is unique to that individual. Really, it is just a matter of figuring out what that special thing is and then pursuing it. Pursuing a dream can be difficult and looking at the people that have achieved that dream thus far can be daunting, but all that one has to realize is that every individual starts at the same point, the beginning. There is very little difference between what one is capable of, compared to another. One of my favorite quotes that I believe captures this, is a quote from Nike.

            “Somehow we’ve come to believe that greatness is reserved for the chosen few,  for the superstars. The truth is greatness is for all of us. This is not about lowering expectations, its about raising them for every last one of us. Because greatness is not in one special place, and it is not in one special person. Greatness is wherever somebody is trying to find it.”

Once one realizes what this quote is saying, it is a matter of pursuing what you want, but how much will you put into it? How many risks will you take in order to become great? I enjoy watching TedTalks and there is one out their called, Why You Will Fail To Have A Great Career. I strongly encourage everyone to watch this video. The title sounds really discouraging, but really the speaker makes quite an encouraging argument. He makes the argument that most individuals will be too afraid to pursue their passion because they are afraid of failure and fear that they are not good enough. This is even true for people that have pursued their passions. Long story short, most people that pursue their passions only obtain a good career and a missed opportunity to having a great career. It is important to take that extra step when pursuing one’s passion in order to make one’s self stand out from others. An individual will be remembered for the successful risks that they take in their field. However, it is important to remember to keep oneself safe from harming themselves as well as others. I hope that when students look at me, I can serve as an inspiration to them.