Welcome to my website. This is a work in progress. In time I hope to have a fairly complete record of my activities as an opera singer, and information about my teaching and other music-related ventures.

As a singer, I was very fortunate to have only three voice teachers in my entire life. The first two, David Blackburn, with whom I studied for several months in high school, and Robert Simpson, my teacher during my undergraduate schooling at Westminster Choir College, instilled in me a great respect for the music and drama of what I sang. They also trained my voice in a rather “natural” way, so that when I went on to study as a professional, my voice was something of a clean slate.

It was the legendary teacher Margaret Harshaw who trained my voice and instructed my mind in the manner of singing that served me well during the course of my career. I was fortunate to have studied with Harshaw from 1974 until her passing in 1997. Her legacy was handed down from the great 19th century teacher Manuel Garcia to her teacher, Anna Schoen-Rene. It is now my honor and duty to pass this knowledge on to the younger generation. I hope I am worthy.

During my many years as an opera singer, I worked with many great musicians. Some, like Georg Solti, James Levine, Zubin Mehta, Bernard Haitink and  Julius Rudel, are well-known musicians, but I also had the pleasure to work with many other of the finest musicians of our time who were not such public names. I hope that in all of this I have learned from them what it is to make music from the notation on the page. This, too, I think I can pass along to my students, because to sing well and beautifully is only the beginning.

Making music out of the breath we inhale is the noble art form that I love.