It was a wonderful day, traveling up to my alma mater, Purchase College, and presenting a recital and entrepreneurial musicianship talk. To be able to come back to a place where I spent formative years and blossomed as a young artist, was very special to me. It’s funny how years can go by, your life can drastically change, the world goes through major shifts, and you can return to a place feeling like you’ve never left.

Coming directly from a morning photo-shoot, I immediately switched gears and started off my visit with a short recital of original pieces. On the program was Bit of Everything, Pray, Ambitious and Stacked. While a student at Purchase, I never performed a composition of my own. In fact, I had hardly even composed anything while an undergraduate. So to be back in the recital hall, (where 10+ years ago I performed works by usual suspects like Prokofiev, Telemann, Bach, Piazolla…), and playing my own pieces was an exciting and other-worldly experience.

After performing, I sat down with the flute students of Dr. Tara Helen O’Connor and discussed various topics of entrepreneurial musicianship. I shared my own story and gave pointers on areas of marketing, networking, programming and more. The students were so receptive to the information and helped create an environment for open discussion, the sharing of ideas and even some role playing. It was such a rewarding feeling to have this opportunity with the same studio I came from. It truly felt full-circle and harmonious.

I want to give an extra special thanks to Dr. Tara Helen O’Connor, for bringing me back and believing in me after all these years. Thank you to Purchase College students for having me, it was a joy to chat with and get to know you all.