Welcome to my Music portfolio! Here you will find my bio and résumé, as well as several examples of my compositional work. Read below for more information about me.

I've always loved music of all genres. As a child, used to pretend to conduct the orchestra as I listened to the classics. I began playing piano at age 7 when the piano arrived at our home in Duxbury, Massachusetts. In fifth grade, I began playing Flute and soon joined the middle school band. This led to playing Piccolo (fun) and the Oboe (hard). In high school, my band director persuaded me to switch to Tuba. From eighth grade until graduation, I also played electric piano in the school's stage band, in rock bands of my own, and I even accompanied the school choir for half a year. As a senior, I was voted "Most Musical" by my class—a small achievement, but one that meant a great deal to me.

In high school, my band went through various phases and personnel changes  as Exodus/The Bridge/Too Early to Tell. At one point we were a nine-piece group with rhythm section and four-horns! We played several school dances and several of the members have gone on to music-related careers. 

After graduation, I went to Tufts for three semesters, studying Electrical Engineering and Music. Then I attended Berklee college for a year, where I majored in Jazz Composition and Arranging. During this time I played keyboards primarily in "The Acrylics," a four-piece original rock band with a New Wave edge. We were a fixture at Bunratty's in the Allston section of Boston. We played at several venues around town as well as travelling to Maine for several gigs/ Many of these shows were opening for our friends The Trademarks, a rocking pop/party band! I wrote most of the Acrylics' material, but as I began to explore other musical areas, I started to feel limited by the band. Eventually I left the band and began a solo project, "Message Units." In addition, I was writing much of my material on Electric Guitar. which was very different, compositionally, from music I was writing at the keyboard. I even performed several times as a solo electric guitarist/singer at the Hoodoo BBQ loft at Boston's famed Rathskellar ("The Rat")—talk about a scary show!

I began working as the Associate Editor of The Noise, a monthly focused entirely on Boston's local music scene. I got to see and write about many great bands including: The del Fuegos, Til Tuesday, Human Sexual Response, The Gluons, Mission of Burma, SSD, The Bent Men, Scruffy the Cat, Throwing Muses, The Schemers, The Blake Babies and Orchestra Luna, to name but a few.  After several years of working in an electronic equipment factory by day and playing music by night the novelty wore off. I decided in 1985 to return to Berklee to finish my Bachelor's degree. In the three years I'd been away, the school had revamped their audio recording program into a full-fledged Music Production & Engineering program. Here, I really found my niche, meeting several of my best friends and establishing many professional contacts, while developing my craft as an engineer and producer. I graduated cum Laude with the class of 1987.

In 1988, my best friend from college, Aaron, hooked me up with a studio maintenance job at New York's famed Power Station recording studio. It was an intense experience—some times I worked 70+ hours a week, and one year, I averaged 60 hours a week! I learned so much during those three years about record production and the level of quality required for major label releases. I met countless top artists, studio musicians, engineers and producers, including: Tony Bongiovi, Carly Simon, George Harrison, James Taylor, Eric Clapton, Wilson Pickett, Billy Squier, Frank Foster and the Count Basie Orchestra, Phoebe Snow, Jeff Bova and Jimmy Bralower, Steve Ferrone, Phil Ramone, Russ Titleman, Meat Loaf, Jim Steinman, Elliot Scheiner, James Farber, Al Schmitt, Paul Rothschild, The Spin Doctors, Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble, John Zorn, Jason Corsaro, Bill Schenniman, Bob Clearmountain, Shelly Yakus and zillions more.

This led to a teaching position at the Center for Media Arts, which in turn, led to stints at the Institute for Audio Research, New School University and Damfino Productions, a karaoke company. (Hey, don't knock it—a year and a half of karaoke paid for my wedding and Swiss honeymoon!)  From 1992 to 2002, I operated a small recording studio in New York's Flatiron District, MU Music International, where I worked with a wide variety of clients including: Grandmaster Flash, Juno Online Systems, 8118 Music, WGBH, Salsoul Records, Thump Records  and Martha Plimpton. In 1998 a colleague from CMA, Paul Steinman, hired me at Mercy College, where I have been a full-time professor since 2001.

In 1998, I also began playing organ with Uncle Izzy, a four-piece original rock band led by songwriter Eric Davis. Although the band only played out for a few years, we spent eight-years finishing our two self-produced albums, Low-End Response and Wish I was Here.

Today, I keep busy with a variety of music projects. I am the keyboardist for a top-notch Lounge band, The Beeps. In this group, we mix disparate elements—such as 60s spy themes, Italian Cinema, and Bossa Nova—into a sophisticated lounge-pop melange. The band has performed at several Maplewoodstock festivals in Maplewood, New Jersey, in Berlin and in various venues around New York City. Our first record, Music for Awkward Situations, received wide critical acclaim, including a pick of the week by Spin Magazine Online. Our second album is finished and will be released soon. I also perform in a few pickup bands from time-to-time, including the PHAM All-stars and the MImi Maura Band. With PHAM, I had the good fortune to tour Liverpool, UK, the home of my childhood favorites, The Beatles. Mimi Maura is an internationally-known reggae en Español artist from Puerto Rico.