ABOUT ME
SOME basics
1970: born in southern Illinois
1972: moved to Kankakee, IL
1988: graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy
1992: graduated from Ithaca College with a BM-Performance (Percussion)
1994: graduated from Arizona State University with a MM-Performance (Percussion)
2010: graduated from Arizona State University with a DMA-Performance (Percussion)
2014: moved into Dance Accompanist Sr. staff position at ASU
2018: joined Glendale (AZ) Community College percussion faculty
2019: joined the Scottsdale Community College Music Department and established the SCC West African Drum Ensemble (WADE), a.k.a. the Sabar-tichokes
in downtown Phoenix. Photo by Nightfuse
Dia de los Muertos festival. Photo by Masato Kubota
some highlights
1996: traveled to Macedonia to play timpani with an international orchestra in Skopje
1998-2001: first 4 trips to Senegal, West Africa
2009: attended the Grammy Awards as a performer on the Phoenix Chorale’s album A Spotless Rose: Hymns to the Virgin Mary. We won!
2014: established Ensemble Ndeye Soxna: Sabar in the Desert
2015: earned a certificate in Solidworks software from Gateway Community College’s Manufacturing Production Technology program
2016: first trip to China, with the American Festival Orchestra
2018: performance in Memphis, TN, of James DeMars’s Concerto for African Drums and Orchestra, with Bob Moody and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra joined by master drummers Medoune Yacine Gueye, Dethie Sarr Diouf, and Abdou Mbaye
2018: performances at the XXV Encuentro Internacional del Mariachi y la Charreria, Guadalajara, MX with Mariachi Montaña del Sur
2019: 2nd trip to China, to perform at the Chengdu International Youth Music Festival with Phoenix Ringing Handbell Ensemble
2023: West Coast tour with Mexico en el Corazón