Trained as an instrumentalist in classical music and jazz. Since moving to Greenwich Village in 1989, I have worked mostly with a cappella vocal ensembles as a singer, arranger, director, producer, and coach, both in New York and abroad. I also tune pianos professionally and have a growing business as a music copyist and editor.
Education
Attended the Eastman School of Music as an oboist 1981–83, studying music education and conducting.
Performance Highlights
Vocal performer with a cappella ensembles of many styles, including:
Toby Twining Music (avant-garde a cappella) 1989–92 and 1999–
including performances of Toby’s “Chrysalid Requiem” – a complex microtonal work for 12 voices unaccompanied
Full House (vocal jazz quintet) 1997–
Michèle Eaton, Elizabeth Farnum, Neil Farrell, Michael Steinberger, & Mark Johnson
DuoVoce (two voices unaccompanied) 1991–
Mark Johnson & Paul Zimmermann
Octave 1 (vocal jazz octet) 1984–85
Founded by M. Andrew Richards at Eastman School of Music
Eastman Kodachromatics (men’s ensemble) 1983–85
Founded by Darren Cohen at Eastman School of Music
Guest performer and coach with other ensembles such as The Western Wind, Tokyo Voices, and
Frequent substitute (bass / alto) with the choirs of St Thomas Church, St Bartholomew’s Church, Grace Church,
Amateur Choral experiences:
Northport High School (Sandy Valerio, dir.) 1978–81
Eastman-Rochester Chorus (Donald Neuen, dir.) 1985–88
Canticum Novum Singers (Harold Rosenbaum, dir.) 1991–94
Cantori New York (Mark Shapiro, dir.) 1994–95
Mannes Chamber Choir (Amy Kaiser, dir.) 1993–95
Cerddorion (formerly “Galatea”; Susanne Peck, dir.) 1995–97
Recording credits: Producer, arranger, and vocalist with The Western Wind on My Funny Valentine (1997), and Producer for several recent CDs in their Judaica series (all on
Created one-man-band live rendition of Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” (complete) for synthesizer and piano, as music for a light show created by Dawn Chiang and Eric Cornwell, part of the “Performance on 42nd” series at the Whitney Museum at Philip Morris, 27 April 1994.
Other Professional Activities
Co-faculty at Studio Arsis ensemble singing workshops in Tokyo, Japan, 1996–present.
Co-faculty at Western Wind ensemble singing workshops in Northampton, Massachusetts and Brattleboro, Vermont, 1994–97.
Piano tuner since 1982, specializing in historical temperaments.
Professional music copyist (J&M Music Processing) since September 1988, using Finale® and Sibelius®.
Artistic Director of Vocal Area Network, an organization that supports a cappella singers and groups in New York City, since 1995.
Other Notable Musical Experiences
In August 1988, I attended a very memorable workshop with Bobby McFerrin at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY. There I met several up-and-coming jazz and a cappella singers, including Caprice Fox (of New York Voices), Paul Stiller (of Vox One), Rachel Bagby, Paul Zimmermann, and Toby Twining.
The following year, after I had moved to NYC, Toby formed his first ensemble, which we called Mouth Music, (consisting of Toby, Paul Zimmermann, Sarah Noll, myself, and sometimes various fifth members). This group performed a cappella compositions by both Toby and Paul, and collaborated with choreographers such as Gus Solomons Jr and Melanie Stewart to produce many vocal/movement performances. In 1990 we were invited as a group to attend the American Dance Festival’s first workshop in Seoul, Korea, as a guest performing ensemble. We performed to a packed house in the 2000-seat Munye Theater in the Sejong Cultural Center (the ‘Lincoln Center’ of Seoul), to critical acclaim.
31 December 2001