I am an educator with a passion for connecting people across cultures. I have over thirty years of experience teaching a variety of subjects to students at all levels (K-12, college, teachers, and general adults) in classrooms and informal settings. I have been a music lover, student, and performer since childhood, first learning the piano and flute and later the koto (Japanese zither) and Cambodian music.

I have been teaching since 1986. When I studied education in college, I taught first and fourth grade Language Arts. When I graduated from college, I went to Japan, where I taught English in high schools and privately to students of all ages. My oldest student was 80 years old! I have also taught college courses in World Music and Community Research. And, I taught English as a Second Language at Columbia College in Maryland.

I earned a Bachelor's degree in Government and Law from Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, a Master's Degree in Asian Studies from the University of Hawaii, a Ph.D. in Music (Ethnomusicology) from the University of Maryland, College Park, and certification in Teaching English as a Foreign Language from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

I have also worked as a museum educator at the Smithsonian. And now, I tutor, teach, and work as a director of an Asian Arts Center at Towson University in Maryland.