I grew up in Cincinnati, OH as the oldest of seven kids.  My first foray into music was when my parents signed me up for piano lessons in the 2nd grade.  Even after a few months my teacher was pleased that I was already further along than most of her other students who had been studying for years.  Of course, like most children, I traded in the piano for something much cooler.  The trombone.

I began focusing on the trombone in the fifth grade.  This was also about the time I joined the Cincinnati Boys Choir.  I was one of two boys who, after one semester, were invited to jump from the beginning choir to the highest level choir.  Through the Boys Choir I also was cast in my first major theatrical production in the cast of “Carmen” with the Cincinnati Opera House.

I continued playing the trombone and got really into jazz in high school.  One day I sat back down at the piano, after years of not touching it, and I starting tinkering around with everything I had learned about jazz and music theory.  I was amazed at how quickly I picked it back up.  In no time I was playing full songs with more skill than I would have expected.  The first clue to my future in Dueling Pianos should have come when I realized how easy it was for me to listen to the radio and immediately be able to play along to it on the piano.  My guitar player friends would often ask me, ‘What are the chords in *blank* song?”  I would take out a piece of paper, listen to the song and transcribe the chords in one listen.

I also got really into musical theater in high school.  I began learning the basics of improvisation.  I loved it!  It was an art form that had one goal: Make people laugh!

I practically lived at St. Xavier High School.  I’d arrive at 7am for jazz band, where I was first chair trombone, go to marching band practice after school, where I was the field commander (or drum major as some people call it), and then head over to the theater where I would be starring in the musical.  I won the first ever “Cappie’s Award” for Best Leading Male in a Musical in Cincinnati, OH.  This was a competition voted on by students from all over the city.

I decided to accept a theatre scholarship to Loyola University in Chicago.  I figured, what better place to kickstart my career as a performer?  I studied theatre and music and continued excelling on and off the stage.  Before I even graduated I was getting cast in professional productions all around the city.  I starred as the leading comedic baritone with the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera company for 4 seasons, including the leading role in their 50th Anniversary Production of “The Mikado.”  I was also playing piano and music directing around Chicago as well.