The Travelling Troubadour

I am a sessional university instructor and private piano/music theory teacher with over ten years of experience teaching students from beginner to advanced. I also teach video game music appreciation classes for teens and adults.

Dynamic and creative! My goal is to instil a love and appreciation of music in every student which will follow them throughout their lives, regardless of whether they choose to pursue music as a career.

Governor General's Silver Medal for highest academic standing in an undergraduate degree program.

I earned my PhD in Musicology at the University of British Columbia where I studied how music contributes to player immersion within and emotional response to pastoral (idyllic) and anti-pastoral (unsettling) landscapes in four video games from the Final Fantasy series. I have also earned a Joint Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and Classical Studies (Language Specialization) from the University of Waterloo and hold an ARCT in Piano Pedagogy from the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM).

My first novel for young adults, Kingdom of Secrets, was published in 2011. In addition to the piano, I enjoy playing cello and electric guitar. I also like to play video games and listen to video game music whenever I have the chance! My favorite game series include Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, NieR, and Persona.