Who I am in 3 minutes…

Education

I am a Las Vegas-based musician since 2010. In 2015, I began a 5-year tenure as a high school band director before earning my Doctor of Musical Arts Degree from UNLV in 2023.

In 2014, I was an Artist In Residence for the Liberty Drum and Bugle Corps of Birmingham, England. This residency was a credit to the auspices of Mr. Timothy Palmer, co-founder of acclaimed percussion duo, Maraca2.

I was fortunate to have participated in the drum corps activity under the instruction of Thomas Hannum, Jeff Lee, Nick Angelis, and James Acona. I owe my success in the marching arts to those above alongside Brian Howerton of UNLV.

This experience led me to the eventual Executive Directorship of the Vegas Vanguard Percussion Theatre, a long-established WGI/SCPA indoor percussion program. During my first year as director, Vanguard earned the gold medal in A Class at the SCPA Championships in California. Since 2020; however, Vegas Vanguard has disbanded.

In 2018, I found a home as an educational artist with Innovative Percussion and SABIAN Cymbals. That same year, I was published as a contributing author to Professor Emertius Gary D. Cook’s enhanced fourth edition of Teaching Percussion.

In 2022, prior to completing my Doctorate, I served as an Adjunct Professor at UNLV serving the then-titled “Division of Percussion” alongside Dr.’s Timothy Jones and Dean Gronemeier.

In 2023, I began serving as the Percussion Area’s new Coordinator and overall program director and hold this position currently.

Performance

I performed regularly with the, now-defunct, Vegas Vanguard Entertainment Drumline directed by Brian Howerton. For six years, I performed weekly at major nightlife venues on the Las Vegas Strip such as Hakkasan and OMNIA nightclubs.

I still regularly perform with the Los Angeles-based talent agency, E-Plus Productions, where I have shared the stage with the Blue Man Group, drummed while suspended from chandeliers, and atop 30-foot scaffolding.

In 2014—and again in 2016—I was privileged to perform and clinic at the Adelaide Fringe Festival and Percussive Arts Society Summer Drum Camp in Adelaide, South Australia. Similarly, I have performed and given clinics locally at the NVPAS Days of Percussion on a yearly basis.

You can hear me on three albums, Lost Vegas, Ventanas (as principal timpanist), and The Return with the highly acclaimed UNLV Wind Orchestra. I have recorded several non-credited tracks for various dance and hip-hop albums at studios around Las Vegas

I am a founding member of the Las Vegas Percussion Collective with duo partner Dr. Alex Stopa and colleagues Dr. Rachel Julian, and Dr. Jeremy Meronuck. I am a recurring performing artist and clinician in Chihuahua, Mexico at the Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua’s Festival Internacional de Percusiones.