My life in music has been a search for the hidden
relationships that make beauty come alive. That
search has taken many forms—as a composer,
conductor, lecturer, and founder of the Los
Angeles Youth Orchestra—each connecting to
the others.
My music has expressed that search in a catalog
of more than one hundred concert works inspired
by the natural world, history, and the stories that
connect us.
Recent highlights include the Carnegie Hall premiere of Self-Evident, commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and a concert of four world premieres performed by the Russell Steinberg Ensemble at the Colburn School of Performing Arts. My piano trio Paleface, recorded by Trio Accento on Albany Records, explores the mythology of the American narrative in dialogue with the dramatic paintings of New York artist Jerry Kearns. Co-commissioned by the New West, Hopkins, and Bay Atlantic Symphonies, Cosmic Dust celebrates the wonder of the Hubble Space Telescope through music and projected images from deep space. The Daniel Pearl Foundation commission Stories From My Favorite Planet combines music with narration to reveal the humor, insight, and compassion of journalist Daniel Pearl through his own writing. The Hanukkah fantasy Lights On!, weaving together eight traditional melodies, has become an annual holiday tradition with the Bay Atlantic Symphony.
My music has been commissioned and performed by orchestras, chamber ensembles, and soloists throughout the United States and abroad. Recognition has included awards and grants from ASCAP, MacDowell, Aspen, Composers Inc., NACUSA, the HEAR NOW Festival, the Park City Film Music Festival, and numerous other organizations. In 2024 I was honored to be named one of Musical America's Top 30 Professionals of the Year.
That same search led me unexpectedly to the podium. In 2000, I founded the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra to create the kind of musical environment I had always imagined—one where curiosity, discipline, and collaboration help young musicians discover artistic expression and a lifelong love of music. What began as an opportunity to share great music with students unexpectedly transformed me as well. Conducting deepened my understanding of musical interpretation, while watching young people carry the qualities they discovered making music together into deeply meaningful lives of purpose and service. It has become one of the great rewards of my own life.
Today LAYO serves 130 young musicians from across Los Angeles. Its orchestras perform the great symphonic repertoire alongside contemporary music, including many of my own works. The orchestra celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary in 2025 and returned to Carnegie Hall the following year to headline the America 250 Youth Orchestra Festival.My work with audiences has grown from the same conviction. Through preconcert talks for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, public lecture series, and my Classical Consortium, I invite listeners to discover not only how music is constructed, but how attention itself changes what we hear. Some people come to learn about Beethoven or Schubert. I hope they also leave hearing themselves—and one another—with greater curiosity.
My work with audiences has grown from the same conviction. Through preconcert talks for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, public lecture series, and the Classical Consortium, I invite listeners to discover not only how music is constructed, but how attention itself changes what we hear. Some people come to learn about Beethoven or Schubert. I hope they also leave hearing themselves—and one another—with greater curiosity.
My search has been guided by extraordinary teachers. I earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University, studying with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Leon Kirchner; an M.M. from the New England Conservatory with Arthur Berger and a B.A. summa cum laude from UCLA with Elaine Barkin, Roy Travis, and Paul Reale. My musical imagination first found encouragement through piano and classical guitar lessons with Dorothy Compinsky. She later guided me to composer and philosopher Kenneth Klauss, pianist Earle C. Voorhies, and classical guitarist Ron Purcell. At UCLA I continued piano studies with Salome Arkatov. Each of these remarkable teachers helped shape the musician—and person—I continue to become. I remain grateful to them all.
