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...Biography...
 

I grew up in Northeastern Ohio. I loved classical music as a child, took piano lessons from the age of eight, and soon afterward began to compose songs and simple piano tunes. However, I stopped writing when I was eleven, perceiving suddenly that all the lovely, complex music I enjoyed seemed to have been written by old dead men. I was neither dead nor a man; and I had no idea that one could actually learn to compose sophisticated music. I figured that Mozart and Brahms were born knowing what to do. (In Mozart's case, that actually may have been true.)  I played oboe in high school, but was not encouraged to pursue the study of music.  I attended Thiel College for one year, and transferred to Ohio University, where I earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

I have lived in the Hudson Valley of New York for all of my adult life. I am a shy performer, and my music life (until recently) has consisted mostly of playing recorders and harpsichord with the Collegium Musicum at the local State University of New York at New Paltz, which I joined when my daughter was five.  When my son was in fifth grade at a small, progressive school (read: use the talents of the parents), his teacher (knowing only that I was a decent recorder player) asked me if I could write a musical based on the Big Bang theory of creation. (Talk about a leap of faith…) I told her that I would try, and then found out that I could! Working with the children's original lyrics, we created a work (entitled, of course, The Big Bang) scored for children’s chorus, one flute, one trumpet, one saxophone, and piano. It sounded good, the kids and I enjoyed ourselves immensely, and my career as a composer was reborn! The following year we wrote a musical called The Greek Gods.  These two works, composed when I was in my late forties, comprise what I might term my ‘juvenilia,’ in addition to the lost works of my childhood.

When my son graduated to a different school, I feared that my composition career was once again about to come to an abrupt end. However, encouraged by musical friends, I returned to college and began formally studying composition. I received a B.A. in Music Theory and Composition from the State University of New York at New Paltz, where I studied with Dr. Ping Jin, the kindest of teachers. I also studied jazz theory with pianist Vinnie Martucci.

My choral works have been performed by the SUNY New Paltz Concert Choir, directed by Dr. Edward Lundergan, the SUNY New Paltz College-Youth Symphony, directed by Dr. Carole Cowan, Kairos: A Consort of Singers, directed by Dr. Edward Lundergan, and the choir of Christ Episcopal Church, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., directed by Dr. Laura Ramsey Russell. My music has been commissioned by oboist Joel Evans and featured by the Pone Ensemble, a professional venue for 20th and 21st century music, based in New Paltz, New York. My song cycle, The Thing With Feathers, based on poems of Emily Dickinson, was selected as part of the Women Composers' Showcase at New Jersey City University in 2003. I have had works performed in New Paltz, New York; Beacon, New York; Poughkeepsie, New York; New York City; Jersey City, New Jersey; and Birmingham, England.

Musical Performance

I sing with several vocal groups in the Hudson Valley area: The SUNY New Paltz College/Community Chorale, The Hudson Valley Bachfest Choir, and the Bardavon Opera Chorus. Very occasionally I play my compositions on the piano.  I also play recorder, krumhorn and harpsichord with various early music ensembles.