TEACHING

I am an artist-teacher and ensemble director experienced at the highest level. I currently serve as Associate Professor of Practice in Guitar Performance at the University at Buffalo, which is the flagship institution of the State University of New York system. In addition to my extensive background as a performer, I am an arts leadership advocate, composer, consultant, engineer-producer, entrepreneur, music theorist, and scholar.

I have been so fortunate to have taught hundreds of guitar students over the years at all levels including top tier performance majors at the undergraduate and graduate levels. My recruitment success is based on creating an innovative curriculum that balances my personal professional experience with the needs of current students navigating the challenging musical landscape of the 21st century. I have an equally strong record of student success post graduation. Recent student accomplishments include full time employment in music and admission with scholarships to top music programs including Berklee, Eastman, Northwestern, North Texas, and more. I have two recent graduates from my University at Buffalo guitar program that have won the Outstanding Senior Award, which is an honor granted to one individual within the entire Music Department.

The following is a list of the many guest artists I have organized and hosted for my students:

  • Bokyung Byun (University of North Texas Guitar Professor)

  • Dave Fabris (Guitarist with David Sanford Big Band)

  • Xavier Jara (Internationally acclaimed American Guitarist)

  • Maya Lončar (Guitar Director at Riverside High School in Leesburg, VA)

  • Lynn McGrath (Eastman Community Music School Guitar Instructor)

  • Arash Noori (Early Music Specialist)

  • Brian Prunka (NYC-based Jazz Guitar and Oud Specialist)

  • Adam Smale (NYC-based 7 String Jazz Guitarist)

  • Bob Sneider (Eastman School Jazz Guitar Professor)

  • Rogério Souza (Brazilian Choro Guitar Master)

  • Jason Vieaux (Curtis Institute and Cleveland Institute Guitar Professor)

  • Thomas Viloteau (Peabody Institute Guitar Professor)

  • ​Stéphane Wrembel (Grammy-award Winning Guitarist and Composer)

  • and more!

My Education and Background

I have been equally fortunate in having had access to world class education in music and guitar, which drives me to give the best possible education to my own students. The following is a list of teachers I have worked with:

Eastman School of Music - MM & DMA

  • Nicholas Goluses - primary guitar professor and mentor

  • Brad Lubman - instrumental conducting

  • Donna Brink Fox - early childhood music education

  • Steven Laitz and Seth Monahan - music theory pedagogy

  • Jim Doser, Petar Kodzas, and Jamal Rossi - Arts Leadership and Mentorship

  • John Covach - rock music history and theory

  • David Temperley - music theory analysis

  • Bob Sneider - jazz guitar lessons

  • Paul O’dette - early music performance practice


University of Southern California - BM

  • James Smith - primary guitar professor and mentor

  • Brian Head - guitar pedagogy and guitar history & literature

  • William Kanengiser - guitar ensembles and performance studies

  • Scott Tennant - guitar technique and performance studies

  • Pepe Romero - private lessons, ensemble coachings and masterclasses

  • Adam Del Monte - flamenco guitar lessons

  • Brian Shepard - composition and orchestration

  • Chris Rozé - theory and ear training


Masterclass Performance Participation

  • Dusan Bogdanovic, Geneva Conservatory

  • Olivier Chassain, Paris Conservatory

  • Ricardo Cobo, University of Nevada-Las Vegas

  • Roland Dyens, Paris Conservatory

  • Eliot Fisk, Universität Mozarteum Salzburg; New England Conservatory

  • Gerald Garcia, guitarist/composer - Oxford, England

  • Frank Gerstmeier, University of Music Detmold, Germany

  • Oscar Ghiglia, Chigiana Musical Academy - Sienna, Italy

  • Sharon Isbin, Juilliard School

  • Timothy Kain, Australian National University

  • Dale Kavanagh, University of Music Detmold, Germany

  • Jeffery McFadden, University of Toronto

  • Alvaro Pierri, University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna

  • David Russell, Grammy award-winning soloist

  • Raphaella Smits, Lemmens Institute, Belgium

  • Christopher Stell, Royal College of Music, England

  • Mark Teicholz, San Francisco Conservatory

  • Benjamin Verdery, Yale School of Music

  • Jason Vieaux, Curtis Institute of Music and Cleveland Institute of Music


Chamber Music Coaching

  • Margaret Batjer, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra - concertmaster

  • Bonita Boyd, flute soloist/chamber musician

  • Joanne Castellani and Michael Andriaccio, world renowned guitar duo

  • Nicholas Goluses, guitar soloist/chamber musician

  • Kenneth Grant, principal clarinet with Rochester Philharmonic

  • Matthew Grief, Los Angeles Guitar Quartet

  • Renée Jolles, violin soloist/chamber musician

  • William Kanengiser, founding member of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet

  • Mikhail Kopelman, member of Kopelman Quartet

  • Pepe Romero, soloist and member of the Romero Guitar Quartet

  • James Smith, member of the Bel Arts Trio and Windwood


Jazz Workshops and Clinics Attended

  • Dusan Bogdanovic (improvisation/composition workshop)

  • Wayne Krantz (improvisation clinic)

  • Lorne Lofsky (improvisation/jazz guitar clinic)

  • Pat Martino (improvisation/jazz guitar clinic)

  • Adam Rogers (improvisation/jazz guitar clinic)

  • Andrew York (improvisation/composition workshop)

Teaching Philosophy

To learn is to change. I believe that a positive and constructive transformation is the ideal end result of a learning experience. The will and desire to change is a necessity for the student who wishes to thrive in their endeavors. However, there are always obstacles that present themselves to those who wish to learn. The fear of failure may be the most daunting barrier to overcome for a student. To conquer this fear, the student must be willing to take risks when opportunities strike. The idea is not to strive for mistakes. Rather, the student must embrace the potential to learn from their failed attempts. This requires patience and the ability to reflect upon a past experience with an impartial perspective. For musicians, this will translate to the willingness of the student to perform and share their music for a wide variety of audiences including their teachers, peers and the general public. Also, if the student is well prepared for a performance, they will be able to take risks with confidence creating new opportunities for change.

Developing trust and mutual respect is a key factor in fostering a strong relationship between the teacher and student. This is required to prepare students to be able to take risks, which is an important foundation in my teaching. Developing my relationship with students is achieved through sharing my passion for music. It is my top priority to foster a student’s passion for music and fuel their inspiration through any means necessary. To develop a student’s ability to express their musical ideas to their fullest potential, I encourage an immersive approach to music making. In addition to spending time with their instrument in the practice room, I create opportunities for students to interact with other musicians including their peers and mentors in a wide range of settings. I promote the student’s capacity to seek out and understand past traditions and appreciate a broad range of musical artists. Lastly, when a student is ready, I recommend they teach, so they may further strengthen their musical and expressive abilities.

It is important for me that students develop short and long term goals. This will allow them to develop confidence in their growth and provide a vision for their potential. The foremost important goal for my students is to expand their imagination for expressive possibilities. To make their expressive ideas come to fruition, I place a great amount of emphasis on the refinement of the most basic technical challenges on their instrument such as tone production, controlled use of tension, and awareness of the instrument’s idiosyncrasies. Another important goal is to develop their musicianship skills (ability to hear and reproduce musical ideas), so that they are not bound to their instruments as musicians. This will allow the student to develop their potential for high level musical improvisation. Lastly, an essential goal for my students is to find and understand their audience. When a student is able to experience the incredible energy that is exchanged between a performer and audience in a successful performance, inspiration for further development is fully ignited.

Diversity Statement

Life experiences matter. No amount of theoretical knowledge can supplant lived experience. When I was in the 2nd grade, I lived in Seoul, Korea where I was born. Every single child in my class was Korean. By the time I was in the 3rd grade, I lived in a small town in Canada where my brother and I were the only Korean students in the entire school. I completed my high school career in the Detroit area where I first experienced living in a relatively diverse and multicultural environment. Then, I moved to Los Angeles where I attended the University of Southern California. During my time there, it was common to be in settings where people of color and specifically of Asian descent were the majority.

Throughout these starkly different stages in my formative years, I was fortunate to meet people from a vast range of backgrounds. I was able to learn about different cultures from direct experience. An important lesson I learned was that there are no cultural monoliths based on demographics. Also, there are more similarities between all of us than the superficial differences. An equally important lesson was understanding my own cultural identity. Having immigrated twice in my life and having become a naturalized citizen of the United States, I was constantly in search of finding my own identity and place in society. I first had to learn a completely new language and in each scenario had to adapt to a completely new culture, and navigate social and institutional codes that were completely foreign to me. These challenges and diverse experiences have made me resilient. This helps me to connect with students from a wide spectrum of backgrounds and especially those from underrepresented minorities that have faced hardships throughout their lives.

My primary instrument, the guitar, and its rich history appropriately reflects the diverse experiences I have had in my life. The guitar has a unique position as a musical instrument that lives without borders. It is an iconic instrument within American culture through its use in blues, country, jazz, rock and American folk traditions that have been exported to all corners of the globe. Many musicians of color have wielded the guitar and have shaped the course of American history and its profound cultural legacy. The guitar is a key instrument in all types of music found in Iberophone countries. In recent decades, the popularity of the guitar has exploded in African and Asian countries. The guitar has deep roots in the western classical music canon stretching back to the Renaissance. This level of diversity allows the guitar to live in multiple cultural spaces and helps to bridge the gap between various disciplines in music. I have personally explored many of these areas as a guitarist, which has enriched my understanding of cultures.

I have learned through lived experience that the strength of Diversity and Inclusion is in the unique set of skills and perspectives that can come from anyone, which contribute to solving problems big and small. I have also learned that no matter how much experience or knowledge one possesses, there are always blindspots. I will continue to embrace the willingness to learn and grow from my future experiences. I am a firm believer that these principles have allowed me to promote inclusive excellence in my endeavors by connecting deeply with my students and colleagues regardless of their background.