There was always a lot of music in my home growing up. My grandmother and mother were both pianists, so it was really no surprise when I started picking out melodies on my own and making up little songs from a very early age. Piano became my creative play space, and to this day, it remains a relaxing and enriching activity in my life that I can’t imagine living without.
Later on, at about the age of ten, my other grandmother bought me classical records and a music encyclopedia which helped expose me to composers such as Bach, Mozart, and Chopin who I’d never heard of before. This opened up a whole new musical world for me, and those records got a lot of play time!
Throughout my youth, I remained very focused on music activities, including marching band, concert band, jazz band, and church music. The biggest turning point came in high school when a piano professor at a nearby university heard me play at a concert and invited me to take lessons. Soon after that, I knew that my life and career would always involve music.