Music

I’ve always been quite an artistic and creative person, but I haven’t always intended to have a creative career. I actually didn’t know what type of career I wanted at all (and even still - there are so many opportunities!). When it came to instrumental music in elementary school curriculum, I wanted to play the saxophone because it was something I enjoyed listening to. I’ve been listening to jazz since an early age, especially enjoying the improvisation that made each rendition of a standard so unique. But, my hands were too small for the saxophone. The next instrument I could think of was the trumpet.

My brother is a year older than I am, and the year prior to my instrument selection, he had chosen the trumpet, too. In my childhood, ironically enough, I was constantly following in my older brother’s footsteps, rather than my twin sister (now, her and I are best friends). Trumpet followed this same path until my brother stopped playing the trumpet as he entered high school.

I enjoyed a lot of creative expression in my childhood, and music was no different. Though my brother ended his own musical journey, I took every opportunity I could to further learn in this creative facet. I began taken lessons late in middle school with Brian Ennis and joined as many extracurricular music programs as I could. As my skills and interest grew, I decided to pursue music as my higher education. During my undergraduate career at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music, I studied with José Sibaja, receiving a Bachelors in Musical Arts Magna Cum Laude in May of 2021.

During my time at Vanderbilt, I became enriched in different facets of the music industry. I joined Sigma Alpha Iota, the National Music Fraternity, as a freshman and moved from Treasurer to President during my final years of my undergraduate career. As a leader in this organization, I created initiatives to spread music to the Nashville community and increased diversity and inclusivity within Vanderbilt’s music community.

As far as performance, I’ve played as a trumpet in the Blair Big Band for two years, during which the band received DownBeat’s Award for Best Student Jazz Ensemble, reached quarterfinals in the National Trumpet Competition twice alongside the Vanderbilt Trumpet Ensemble, performed in masterclasses with Roxy Coss, Jacob Collier, Michael Sachs, and Anthony Plog, as well as toured major Colombian cities with the Vanderbilt Wind Symphony.

As I started to delve into the intricacies of the music industry as a performer, I also began to take interest in the business side of things. I have always loved creative collaboration, and soon began to discover ways to exercise my creativity in innovative ways. I decided to pursue a Masters in Business Administration in addition to my Musical Arts degree at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management, focusing in Human & Organizational Performance, Social Impact & Sustainability, and Entrepreneurship. With this unique combination of academic curriculum, I have now created a career of creativity both in business and music.