MusicLink lessons have been an extremely important part of my life. I grew up in a lower income family and being able to afford regular lessons was challenging at times, but I loved my piano lessons. Music helped me get through some challenging points as a teenager and the constant routine of lessons every week was extremely helpful, both with keeping me artistically engaged but also creating something I could look forward to and work towards on the weekly bases.

I’m now pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance at Lawrence University with Professor Michael Mizrahi. I love my studies here and am extremely lucky to be an accompanying fellow with one of the school choirs. I have been enjoying playing a lot of chamber music as well and this spring I have greatly enjoyed diving into Dvorak’s Piano trio No 4 (Dumky) and Rachmaninov’s Piano Trio No 1. I’ve also had the delight of performing Bach’s Concerto for two pianos in C Major as well as Little White Salmon for two pianos and voice by Oregon Composer Bill Whitley, whom I had the chance to personally work with during the preparation of the performance. Working on music of living composers is something I have greatly enjoyed exploring since arriving here and have had the chance to premiere multiple pieces by various composers around the country. One of my favorite experiences since arriving here has been performing John Luther Adams’ Ten Thousand Birds with members of Alarm Will Sound. The piece is an hour long semi-improvised piece that imitates the sounds of a landscape, imitating calls from birds and frogs. I love watching birds, so this experience was particularly rewarding for me as I could combine two of my interests. Away from school, I have been able to share my love of music by performing engaging concerts at Decoda/Mile Of Music Festivals and a very memorable concert my brother and I put on for 150 school children while we were in Switzerland last summer. This summer I am looking forward to premiering multiple works at the Yarn/Wire Institute on Long Island and performing more chamber music at the DeCoda Chamber Music Festival. MusicLink lessons gave me the musical foundation for me to study music at this high level and work professionally as a musician, something I am deeply grateful for.