Latest Work:

Elements of Gratitude

These are the videos I created in collaboration with the Santa Rosa Junior College Symphonic Band, guest conductor Erik Johnson, and band director Jerome Fleg. The concert was titled Elements of Gratitude. The concert theme was inspired by Erik’s reading of “Gratitude” by Oliver Sacks - a collection of four essays Sacks wrote in his last days, reflecting on what it means to live a good life.

I find I have to create a practice of gratitude in order to appreciate what is true to my life rather than measure what I have according to a societal checklist. This project is a great example of this. My job at the junior college is accompanist and vocal coach. It checks a box of being employed at a steady job. My calling is to create work that is a dialogue about observations. While these are different kinds of jobs, having conversations with my colleagues about creating unique performance experiences for students and audiences led to utilizing my skills as a visual artist within my job at the school.

Gratitude is personal and relative. So I hope that in exploring this idea, I hear from other people. What are you grateful for? What does gratitude feel, look like in terms of how it shapes your life?

I used recordings from other sources to make the videos. The concert will be released on YouTube later this summer.