About Me
I was born with an NES controller in my hand...
...not really, but I was handed one shortly thereafter and have been a rabid gamer ever since. I spent almost all of my public school years studying numerous instruments and performing in various award-winning school ensembles while playing as many games as I could get my hands on. I then attended Union College, where Hilary Tann inspired me to study composition and mentored me through composing for a chamber ensemble, creating a process piece that can be played by any instrumentation, and writing a ten minute piece for full orchestra as my thesis, among other projects.
While at Union, I was also fortunate enough to study ethnomusicology, Wadaiko, and Balinese Gamelan with Jennifer Matsue, and to earn a research fellowship studying and writing for taiko with her. After writing a paper on video game music as a method of dissemination for Japanese composers, I realized I also wanted to write music that contributes to an amazing gaming experience!
I went on to earn my MFA in Music Composition with a focus on scoring for media from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. I studied film scoring and wrote tracks in a variety of genres under Don DiNicola and learned to write music for advertising and video games with Ravi Krishnaswami. I'm proficient in Finale 2014, Logic Pro X, and Reaper. I work in a variety of genres from electronic pop to dramatic orchestral themes, and have co-produced a Banjo-Kazooie tribute album along with a number of other video game music arrangements.
Most recently, I worked as a composer and sound designer for an unannounced title at House of How Games before being impacted by a reduction in force layoff. I worked with the design director to set the audio direction of the game, built and maintained the Wwise project and asset spreadsheet, made sounds and music, and worked with animators and engineers to implement sounds in the game. I've also done sound design for indie titles Narcalid (Lotus Mountain Games) and Defender's Quest II (Level Up Labs.) Ambiences, creature sounds, sci-fi, and magic sounds are some of my favorites to create!
In addition to my music and sound work, I've also worked in Quality Assurance. I was the lead audio tester for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 at Vicarious Visions and Diablo IV at Blizzard Entertainment, which was a dream come true! I did a mentorship with the head of the audio department, Justin Joyner, and fell even more in love with sound design.
I am a member of the Game Audio Network Guild and Chair of the International Game Developers Association Albany, NY chapter, and I've spoken for IDGA Albany, GameSoundCon, and the Game Developers Conference. I strive to bring two of my greatest passions together by pursuing a career in game audio and scoring for film and other media. My hope is to spread the joy I've gotten from video games with others by crafting audio worlds they'll love!