Studios

I teach trombone, euphonium, and low brass at two Twin Cities universities, from first-year students through graduate students, majors and non-majors alike. If you are considering either school, you are welcome to arrange a sample lesson with me before you audition, in person or online.

Where students go

Military bands

United States Navy fleet bands · United States Army Reserve band

Touring and festival

Tim Zimmerman and the King’s Brass · Chautauqua Music School Festival Orchestra

Graduate study

Eastman School of Music · Carnegie Mellon University · Rice University

Undergraduate study

DePaul University · Lawrence University Conservatory of Music · University of Minnesota

An earlier student won a merit-based music scholarship to Harvard.

In lessons

We start from the sound you want and work back to the breath, the embouchure, and the motion that produce it. Most problems that feel technical turn out to be problems of concept first.

I would rather you understand why a musical choice works than copy mine. You should leave a lesson able to hear what is going wrong on your own, with a plan for the week instead of a list of corrections.

Students arrive wanting different things from their playing, and no two of them need the same preparation. An orchestral audition, graduate school, a military band, a teaching job, chamber music, a freelance career — a studio that only prepares you for one of those is preparing most of its students for something they will never do.

Beyond the studio

I lead the trombone division of the University of Minnesota High School Honor Band, and have served as a clinician for the University of Northwestern high school honor band day and the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies.

I also have an active private studio in the Twin Cities, teaching in person and online, and have taught previously at the Chautauqua Institution, the Academy of Music at the University of Northwestern, the Mannes Preparatory Division, and Boston College High School.