In 1993, my parents and I moved to the United States. Surrounded by music, I began to learn to play the piano and the guitar at a young age. With my parents’ encouragement, I pursued my love for music wherever I could. In school, I sang in Chorus, played in Jazz Band, and even went on to learn to play the clarinet in symphonic band and orchestra. In All County and All State Ensembles and Choirs, I had the chance to perform with others passionate about music.

Formal Education

In 2008, I enrolled at the University of Central Florida with a double major in Music Performance and History. As a piano student, I studied under professor Laurent Boukobza, and was fortunate to participate in masterclasses with renowned concert pianists such as Daniel Pollack, Alexander Dossin, Tzimon Barto, and others. In 2010, several classmates and I were invited to spend the summer studying at music festivals in Paris and Les Arcs. I made several life-long friends and acquaintances on this trip, studied with some of the world’s best performers, and developed a renewed interest for life in Europe. During my time at UCF,  I also won several performance awards, including the first prize in the UCF Performance Excellence competition. 

As a university student, I divided my time between practicing and performing music, but also attended lectures and courses in history. My interest in history grew out of my own family’s part in it, and I soon found myself on track to graduating with a degree in history as well. Much of the history of the twentieth century played itself out around the city of Berlin, my family’s hometown for many generations. At the University of Central Florida, my focus was World History, especially the history of Russia, China, and Japan. I was very fortunate to be able to take courses taught by Vladimir Solonari, Edward Dandrow, Hong Zhang, and Connie Lester. In particular, I was interested in the history of the twentieth century, and enjoyed reading, researching, and writing about the Cold War. In 2012, I graduated from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History.

After graduation, I moved to Berlin, Germany, where I was accepted to the graduate program in Musicology at the Freie Universität zu Berlin. Moving to Berlin was a homecoming, but at the same time, it was a very new experience. At the university, I took part in seminars and lectures such as “Beethoven, Haydn, und Cherubini,” “Romantic Music,” “Bach’s Keyboard Music,” “Music, Word, and Image,” “Music in Antiquity,” and many others. Specializing in the history of music, I earned a Master of Arts degree with my thesis Weills Weg zur Symphonie under the guidance of Professors Albrecht Riethmüller and Bodo Bischoff.

Career

In 2014, I returned to Orlando, Florida, to be closer to my parents. I began working as a music teacher and social media contributor for a music school in Baldwin Park. For the next six years, I taught dozens of students how to play piano, read music, and music appreciation broadly. I arranged recitals, managed our YouTube channel, and helped with managing the day-to-day needs of a music school. Since 2016, I have often performed with the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra. I performed Liszt’s first piano concerto and Gershwin’s variations on “I Got Rhythm” as a soloist with the orchestra, and have also performed Holst’s “The Planets,” Stravinsky’s “Petrushka,” and various works from John Williams with the orchestra. 

At the same time, I also became a teacher at Timber Creek High School. Since 2014, I have taught Psychology, Honors World History, AP World History, AP Comparative Government and Politics, and AP Human Geography. This is where my background in history and social studies has really come into play. Along the way, I have aspired to learn more about the art of teaching. It is one thing to understand a subject matter, but something completely different to engage others in learning about a subject and to master the skills of a discipline. In addition to my responsibilities as a teacher, I have served as our school’s assistant debate team coach, traveling across the country with students to local, state, and national competitions. I also sponsor our school’s Model United Nations club, where students represent countries from around the world as delegates in local and state conferences. In the evenings, I have facilitated professional development courses for new teachers on lesson planning and instructional design. In the 2020-2021 school year, I had the great honor of being chosen as our school’s teacher of the year.

Currently, I live in Orlando with my loving wife Gina and our beautiful baby girl Emma Clara. Most of my free time is devoted to being a dad. On the side, I stay busy with managing my class’ small YouTube Channel, and continue to teach piano lessons and perform music occasionally in Central Florida.