About Me
Born in Germany but raised in the southern U.S., I have sung and played piano since I was very young. Growing up, I was an enthusiastic choir nerd/theater kid, and writing music became an outlet for me.
I attended Berklee College of Music, where I studied jazz, arranging, audio production, video game scoring, and vocal pedagogy. Some highlights from my time at Berklee include directing an original musical, arranging for and directing PXL8 Video Game Music Choir, playing keyboards on tours with prog rock band Space Junk is Forever, and developing games and audio projects for virtual reality systems.
A large portion of my time there was also poured into singing in and leading vocal ensembles, choirs, and a cappella groups. It was through these experiences I developed a deep love for voice as well as an insatiable desire to understand everything I could about its interworkings and how to navigate voice teaching and learning.
In the years following my graduation from Berklee, I continued conducting choirs with appointments at Boston Choral Ensemble and Boston Children's Chorus. I also came into my queer identity and began medical and social transition. I felt nervous about navigating my identity as a singer. Up to that point, I had primarily sung bass II. My speaking voice rested very low, and I had internalized pervasive messages that singing "outside of my Fach" would damage my voice. After I learned voice transition was possible, I knew I wanted to sing a higher voice part, but I was met with a substantial lack of institutionalized resources about how to do so in a sustainable and gender-affirming way. With the help of numerous mentors (including Zheanna Erose, Mari Esabel Valverde, and Katherine Werbiansky), lots of research, and countless hours of practice and trial and-error, I came to be most comfortable regularly singing alto or mezzo-soprano.
Pursuing a master's degree in Choral Conducting, I moved to Los Angeles and attended University of Southern California. There, I remained an avid singer, studied choral performance, vocal pedagogy, and vocology, and began more advanced research of gender-affirming singing voice transition. Eventually inspired to dedicate myself more fully to voice teaching and research, I transferred to the Speech-Language Pathology Preparation Program at California State University, San Marcos.
Under the direction of Zheanna Erose, I joined the TransVoiceLessons team in 2022. In my teaching, I care most about giving clients the tools and outlooks they need to self-sustainably accomplish their voice goals. My approach is centered in helping clients develop agency in their vocal journeys; I focus on prioritizing experiential learning, breaking down goals into measurable and approachable steps, providing roadmaps to short and long term skill development, and equipping clients with the knowledge to work through misconceptions and misinformation.
All lessons are taught online via Zoom, but I'm currently based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.