For the past 30 years I have performed as a musician, taught brass and improvisation in numerous WA schools, and directed large school and community ensembles and orchestras. I have been employed as a musical director for the Western Australian Youth Jazz Orchestra (WAYJO) since 2009, and I have directed the Swingshift big band since 2006. I have composed and arranged professionally for over 20 years, gaining an award in the Orpheus Composition Competition in 2020. I have also recorded on well over 50 local and national releases. I had the great privilege of holding the position of guest professor at the Graz University of Music and Performing Arts in 2014, and I was a faculty member of the Brubeck Institute Jazz Colony in 2019.
As a freelance performer, I have been very lucky to engage in a diverse range of genres from New Orleans style brass, Latin, Jazz in its many different stylistic forms, Dub, Ska, Reggae, Mexican Folk, German Folk, Funk and Soul, original rock and popular music (including two performances at Triple J’s Big Day Out and the St Kilda Festival amongst many other memorable music festival gigs). I have shared the stage with Fred Wesley, Midnight Oil, Sufjan Stevens, Rai Thistlethwaite, Renee Geyer, The Screaming Jets, Vivian Sessoms with Troy Roberts, Ed Neumeister, Tim Davies, James Morrison, Paul Grabowski, and many more.
I am a strong believer in the idea that the key to humanity’s future lies in education and consequently I have been actively involved in this sector at primary, secondary and tertiary levels for many years. Whilst I feel like I am always learning, I sincerely hope to inspire numerous future generations of humans to think critically as they transition into adulthood in order to make the world a better place.