Instrumental Music Teacher
Know Your Pelicans
What is your favorite thing about Packer?
Being equally inspired by my students and my colleagues. My students never cease to amaze me — the way they look at a problem or find a solution in a way that I could never have anticipated. Their creativity drives me.
Describe a favorite or memorable moment during your time at Packer.
A moment on the 2015 Jazz Band trip to New Orleans: We visited a high school and engaged in a musical share with their music program. At one point the NOLA kids taught our kids a New Orleans march aurally by playing it along with us — then one by one, they dropped out until only the Packer kids were playing their hearts out on this tune they had just learned a minute ago. It was a true party — ending with an authentic home-cooked New Orleans meal in the bandroom. It brought tears to my eyes. Wonderful!
Name a work of art, literature, music, or film that you hold dear and explain its influence on you.
Sort of hilarious, but the movie Back to the Future is probably the reason I started playing the saxophone and started skateboarding back in the late 80s. Both pursuits led me to discover art, literature, music, and other ideas that opened up my world. Being from such a small town in Massachusetts, I might not have ever discovered these things. As a musician I moved to Boston and then New York, and I have been lucky enough to travel the world playing concerts. As a music student at the New England Conservatory, I also discovered my passion for education.
What is something that most Packer people wouldn't know about you?
I'm working on my terrible dad jokes every day!