Classical Background
Following four years of childhood piano lessons I played clarinet through college, joining the orchestra at Montana State University during high school and studying under Catherine Moore of the Oregon Symphony while at Reed College. I graduated from Reed in 1971 in music theory, with piano from Fred Rothchild, composition from Tomas Svoboda, and a thesis on Bach's “French Suite in D minor”.
My first music on the mandolin was Bach, many of whose keyboard and string suite movements I transcribed and perform as duets with the mando-cello. Included in my repertoire are settings of Scarlatti and other Baroque composers, as well as the classic mandolin works of Vivaldi, Beethoven, and Mozart (from “The Magic Flute”, performed with local tenor John Vergin and Symphonia Concertante). I taught eartraining at Reed College in the early 1970s and have been adjunct faculty on mandolin and banjo there since 1995