Who I Am.
To know who I am begins with knowing that in 2014, my eighteen-year-old daughter Naomi had an accidental, fatal fall from a ten-story building. This experience completely ended the old me and inspires the person I am now and who I am becoming. Perhaps the greatest understanding I’ve gained is that in general, we are not aware of how deeply we love, and that our capacity to love is far beyond what we imagine. Once you sift and purge through your life, you realize that people are what really matter. I believe most of us realize this. For me, I see people as infinitely valuable. It’s central to how I try to live. I view life, people (including myself), and time differently now. I have always been kind, creative, risk-taking, altruistic, deep-thinking, and a jokester. Now those attributes have a focus and purpose beyond myself. It is my goal to present information or create an experience that causes people to contemplate a bigger picture and/or encounter a new perspective.
Who I am is also shaped by the rest of my beloved family: my daughter Violet and her partner, Mad; and my high school sweetheart and wife, Judy.
What I’ve Done.
At my core, I am a teacher. I spent twenty-two years teaching high school music in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Manhattan, Kansas. I have a passion for helping others discover and develop their personal potential. I have also spent time in full-time ministry. Faith is my core. It’s where my understanding and actions come from. However, I believe it’s better to show you than tell you. In the music world, I have worked with some of the world’s best musicians and organizations, including PBS, the Grammy Foundation, and the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, to promote music education initiatives. I have presented clinics to music educators, managed grant programs, and organized and facilitated summer institutes and international conferences. As a musician, I have played many different styles of music, from classical to country to jazz to pop. I have performed in wide-ranging venues, from small blues bars to Las Vegas showrooms, and wide-ranging roles, from background music to a headliner.
What I Do.
Currently, I work at Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art at Kansas State University. My focus is community engagement. I create programs and projects that bring a variety of people to the museum as well as take the museum out into the community. I find new ways for people to experience art and engage with the museum. Still active musically, I perform with the Kansas City-based band 2Proud2Beg, the Thundering Cats Big Band, and with my own jazz quartet. I am also the Artistic Director for Union Hall, Manhattan’s newest event space. My role is to create and curate programs that build community and promote well-being. All of this leads to my role as a public speaker. I deliver keynote presentations, conference workshops and seminars, community lectures, classroom lessons, and sermons. Always promoting ways to see a bigger picture and find a deeper meaning, I often speak about leadership, education, diversity, grief and wellness, and even music.
If you are interested in working with me and need references or a résumé, I can provide those upon request. In the meantime, please refer to the video of my students performing Shostakovich Quartet No. 8, which illustrates the best of my philosophy, approach, standards, and teaching.
