I received my Bachelor of Music degree from Ithaca College and my Master of Music degree from Webster University in St. Louis, MO. Both degrees were in Trombone Performance, though I had a strong Music Education foundation at Ithaca.

I worked as a band director in New Jersey public schools for 25 years, teaching general music to grades 2-6, elementary band, middle school band, and middle and high school music technology. I've also taught privately for over 30 years, teaching all levels and specializing in low brass and jazz improvisation.

As a trombonist, I performed, toured and recorded with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and was a featured soloist with the Jordan Thomas Orchestra at the NJ JazzFest in Madison, NJ. I have played in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Hollywood Bowl, Tanglewood, and Birdland jazz club in NYC. I feel that performing professionally makes me a better teacher, and being a professional educator helps my playing.

I am also the founder, leader, trombonist, and chief arranger and composer for the ACME BRASS CO., an eight-piece brass with rhythm section group, producing ACME BRASS's first CD, entitled "X-MAS X-ING."

My specialty area with Varsity Tutors is music. Music has special powers to stimulate creativity, advance learning ability and create a sense of community. I feel as music teacher, I can facilitate all aspects of learning through the use of music, as well as learning about music.

In my work as a teacher, I have come to see my role as providing a warm, supportive, positive environment in which students can feel empowered to experiment and learn. My job is to meet the students where they are, assess their present level of ability as well as their motivation and capacity to improve, and help them design a plan for learning and improving. Each lesson or meeting is like a consultation where the student shows me what he or she has worked on, we discuss how to set and achieve the next goal and adjust any methods being used. The next week, we again evaluate and adjust. This is all done within the framework of clear expectations and standards.

Often, I say that my job is to teach students how to teach themselves. That is, in a lesson I give students several things: the tools to use while practicing or studying, the ability to develop and use their own practice tools, and the motivation to continue by providing an example of the desired goal. This is my favorite kind of teaching or tutoring; watching a student have a "light-bulb" moment when they firmly grasp a new concept, show mastery of a recently-acquired skill, make a connection to their life or some previous learning, or clarify their learning style to feel their forward momentum.