Birthplace: Billings, Montana
Grew up: Billings, Montana
Started playing: Piano-5, Violin-8, Viola-18
Education: MM – Juilliard School, BM – Northwestern University
Began with CSO: Full-Time 2001, various appointments since 1992
Non-CSO Activities: Carpe Diem String Quartet, wife, parent of boy, dog, cat, fish, and other living things brought in the house.
Favorite music: Live Music
In my iPod: Gypsy Kings; Balkan Beatbox; Earth, Wind and Fire; Ella Fitzgerald; Nat King Cole; Nathan Milstein; Ludwig Van Beethoven and other equally random selections
Outside ensembles or groups: Carpe Diem String Quartet
Main Teachers: Joseph Fuchs & Myron Kartman-violin; Robert Mann, Joel Krosnik, Harvey Shapiro-Chamber Music
When not rehearsing or performing on stage with the CSO, I spend my time…working on Carpe Diem String Quartet business, trying to keep on top of family activities
If I had not become a professional musician, I may have become a…Neurosurgeon
To unwind, I listen to…silence
In the car, I listen to…WOSU FM
My current ring tone is…Calypso, a steel-drum, happy melody that comes free on Blackberry phones.
The last book I read was…Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry
Most people would be surprised to learn that…I lived in Africa for 3 months and spoke nothing but French and Arabic while there.
The craziest thing I have ever done is…rock climbed to the summit of Seneca Rocks one summer with two good friends.
My dream is…short-term…to sleep 8 hours a night for at least one month in a row.  Long-term ????
The non-musical accomplishment that I am most proud of is…raising my wonderful child
What is your guilty pleasure? Chocolate; Reading all day, into the night, and into the next day.
My favorite vacation is…the vacation that I actually get to take.
The last movie I saw was…The Dark Knight
To prepare for a performance, I…practice, play for colleagues, read about the composer, but mostly practice.
If I could choose to play another instrument, it would be the…cello, or maybe the Musical Saw.
I also play the…Viola.
My most embarrassing musical moment was…can’t think of one.
An extremely positive musical experience I have had was...performing the slow mvt. of the Schubert Cello Quintet with CDSQ and Yo Yo Ma.
A profound experience, musical or otherwise, that has shaped or deeply influenced my approach to music would be…composing.
If I could spend a day with any composer, it would be…Beethoven, and then someone who really could give me lessons on how to use Finale efficiently.