I started playing piano as a child in Pilot Mountain, North Carolina, and later studied with Allen Kindt and Bair Shagdaron at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.
While an undergrad at ASU I began composing solo and chamber music as a student of Scott Meister. After college I taught a variety of high school music courses, including chorus, band, steel band, piano, music theory, and music appreciation.
In 2006 I began my master’s degree and began studying composition with Steve Ricks atBrigham Young University in Provo, Utah. I also studied with David Sargent there. At BYU I taught music theory and music dictation. In the summer of 2007, I was honored to be selected as an intern at the Barlow Endowment for Music’s annual prize selection retreat.
In 2009 I began work on a Ph.D. in composition at the University of North Texas where I have studied with Joseph Klein, David Bithell, Andrew May, and Harvey Sollberger. I am currently teaching composition lesson and Instrumentation (MUCP 4310) at UNT.
In 1997, I went to South Korea for a two-year religious mission. While there I learned the Korean language and came to understand and love the culture, especially the food and music. Both concrete Korean musical styles and generic east Asian concepts like balance and amorphousness continue to inform my compositional style.
I am currently living in Denton, Texas with my wife Megan and two daughters.
