About Our Director

Becoming a musician

My choice was inevitable.  I couldn’t be anything else.  Music is my passion, and I’ve spent my entire life pursuing it.

I taught myself to play by ear before I entered first grade, but that wasn’t enough.  So, I joined band at school.  

I started taking private lessons.  I became a multi-instrumentalist playing trumpet, bass, and piano.  I started writing music and won honors and scholarships.

I wanted to know how music works.  So, I went to university and earned a Bachelor’s, and then a Master’s, in Music Composition.  I played in band, jazz band, combos, orchestra, and rock groups.  

I learned to record music.  I designed and built recording studios.  I founded a record label, recorded local musicians, produced and promoted shows, and released albums.  However, my continuing passion has been sharing my knowledge and expertise through teaching.

Becoming an educator

I started teaching private lessons while I was still an undergrad.  I started a rock program for youth at a local music store years before the movie “School of Rock” was released.  I founded and directed a music school at a large church.  I took a half year sabbatical in Japan before I moved to the Pacific Northwest.

I began teaching private lessons in Clark County, WA in 2004.  In 2012, I founded the Northwest Rock Academy, which is now the West Arts Academy School of Music.

Over the course of my education, I studied privately with 11 different educators in 7 different musical disciplines.  They were wonderful teachers who had wonderful teachers themselves.  I’ve made it my life’s pursuit to combine their collected wisdom with my own experience and pass it on to my students, applying it to their passions and pursuits.

I invest myself in the success of my students.  They’ve won prizes, honors, and competitions.  They’ve become in-demand performers.  Some have even become professional musicians: music educators, touring musicians, music directors, accompanists, worship leaders, and composers.