Nickname/preferred name: 

Phil

What is your primary instrument? 

I hold a degree in saxophone performance from CSUEB where I studied both classical and jazz performance techniques.

Secondary instruments? 

While at CSUEB, I also studied and performed on flute, clarinet and tuba.

When did you join the MTAC? What made you decide to join? 

I joined MTAC as a teacher in the 2017/2018 school year. As a child, I had taken several years of Certificate of Merit exams down in Santa Barbara studying with Deborah Mele. The preparation for those exams helped grow my appreciation for music theory and the fundamentals of playing an instrument. I felt it gave me an advantage when I started music studies in college. When I discovered I could offer the same opportunity to may students on saxophone, I enthusiastically signed up.

Fondest musical memory? 

In the Spring of my 2nd year at Cal State East Bay, my mother passed away from cancer. A couple months later the school bands went on tour; one of the pieces we were performing was a student composition by Robert Litton. I am embarrassed to say that I cannot recall the title any longer; but when we got to the final performance, he was invited up to speak about his piece and said that he had dedicated our tour performances of his piece to me as a gesture of support for what I had been going through. This kind gesture completed changed how I experienced the piece, and made a lasting memory. I am forever grateful for his thoughtfulness, in that moment I connected with his music in a way I haven’t since.

Best advice you’ve been given as a musician? Or advice you like giving? 

I have all of my students use a technique book written by my former saxophone professor Dann Zinn. In the introduction he has the phrase “Playing an instrument is not like riding a bike - it’s like brushing your teeth: do it everyday or it will decay”. I make sure to point this out to my students at their first lesson.

Favorite musical era/composer/work?

 I will go with the Concerto for Alto Saxophone by Alexander Glazunov. It is a brilliant work and one that has been in the repertoire for a long time. He really admired the Russian composers of the previous generation - Rimsky-Korokov, Borodin, Mussorgsky… and while the piece was written in the 1930s it sounds as if it came directly from Russian tradition of the late romantic period. Due to the saxophone being a late addition to the woodwind family it is a rare treat to have a piece written in this style and a particularly well written one at that. If you haven’t had a chance to give it a listen, I recommend listening to either Nobuya Sugawa or Sohre Rahbari’s recordings. 

Something you should know about me is: 

When I am not telling my students to practice more, I spend most of my time with wife, two children and mother in law in Brentwood. They have supported me through the years as I learned Japanese and participated in a yearly triathlon.