I am a graduate of Goldsmiths University of London with a Masters of Music in Composition (2010-2012). While at Goldsmiths, I had the invaluable opportunity to study with composer Dmitri Smirnov who helped me develop and mature my musical voice. Before attending Goldsmiths, I graduated from The College of Idaho with a Bachelors of Music with Honors degree in Composition/Music Theory, and presented a research project on the meaning of Russian folk music in Tchaikovsky's symphonies. My passion for composition and Russian music stems from Tchaikovsky's 5th symphony, and a six month study abroad in St. Petersburg where I studied Russian language, history and culture at St. Petersburg State University - Smolney. The Russian musical voices of composers from Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov, to Kabalevsky and Schnittke have influenced and flavored my own musical language.