anything with Denzel Washington, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Jodie Foster, Sean Connery

celtic, bluegrass, klezmer, classical, swing, folk, 70's rock

I was born in Boston, May 24 of 1962 (a good year) the 2nd son of 3 boys and a girl. My parents thought it would be fun if all of their kids could play instruments. I volunteered for the violin. They took me to a pilot Suzuki violin program at Dana Hall in Wellesley, under the auspices of the New England Conservatory of Music. I graduated with a certification of completion in 1980.

At Hampshire College in Amherst, I studied music therapy and ethnomusicology.

College Musical Organizations Included:

Five College Symphony Orchestra 1980-1985
Backwoods Medicine Bluegrass 1984-1985
Lonesome Fish Quintet 1983-1984
Pieces of Neck Bluegrass Band 1980-1983

I graduated Hampshire in 1985 with a BA in Music.

In 1986, I started my private lesson studio. In 1988 I moved the studio to Shelburne. I joined Maple Ridge Bluegrass in '89 on mandolin and fiddle, and began teaching mandolin as well as violin/fiddle & viola. I moved the studio finally to Belchertown, where it has been since 1997.

In '95 I met Brian Bender, who encouraged me to seek my roots music. I spent six weeks in Ireland the summer of '96. Of course I brought my fiddle and played in every pub and ale house from Cork to Clare, Donegal to the Dingle! Upon returning, I shortly added Irish music to my teaching repertoire.

Joe Blumenthal recommended I look into setting up a studio at the Northampton Community Music Center and so I joined that establishment in 1997. I also joined the Keene Institute of Music and Related Arts, which is now simply called the Keene Community Music Center. I did some website consulting for the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music in '99, and joined the Keene Chamber Orchestra on viola.

In 1998, I started Sweet Consultants, a Sales & Marketing Consulting Agency. Among my clients included Matt Stamell who hired me to help him with inside sales, the website, and setting up satellite studios in Poughkeepsie and Pittsfield. During that time, I was also hired by Erich Husemoller, for similar work.

My first trip to China was in 2002. I traveled to Harbin, then to Anping, the two most important horse hair processing cities in the world. It was there that I became an expert in bow hair.

In 2003, I met Emily, the love of my life, in China. Together, we started Emily's Violin Co., Inc. in 2004 for trading violins, violas, accessories and other supplies between vendors in China and buyers in the western world.

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Certifications/Organizations Include:

Certification New England Conservatory
BA in Music Hampshire College
Member American Federation of Musicians
Member Violin Society of America
Member Guild of American Luthiers

music, computers, travel, hiking

smoking, loud noises, rude people

playing fiddle, traveling, cycling, hiking