Having been born into a musical family, the presence of music always filled our house with my Dad playing guitar and Mom singing. As much as I heard them daily and my Grandfather, John Jackson, regularly perform in many public and private venues, I wasn't interested in playing anything until I saw my neighbor playing viola in the school assembly. I haven't parted from the violin since.
I was ten years old and began to learn through the public school strings program in the fifth grade. I enjoyed it and began to take regular private lessons in seventh grade. At that point I began to compete for positions in audition-based orchestras: All-County, Regional and State Orchestras. In high school I had opportunities to play solos before my peers and in church worship services.
My skills continued to improve and I auditioned for college scholarships, one of which I was awarded at George Mason University where I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music. I loved to play with the orchestras there and in the Woodbridge community, namely, The Old Bridge Chamber Orchestra.
During my time there, I felt an increasing desire and pressure to perform in a career setting, but strongly felt the need to continue my training and education. Having been brought to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ at 18, I followed, what I know now, to have been the Lord's will and pursued a Master's of Music degree in Solo Performance in the Church, at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
There I continued to focus on developing a professional quality of violin performance while minoring in piano and becoming vocally proficient as required. When I concluded my studies at SBTS in 2006, I knew that I could not perform for a professional symphony orchestra as a career because of certain physical constraints, among other reasons, and I became content with that.
I have been teaching violin since 2000 to the present. What I have enjoyed most about teaching is the ability to watch and encourage my students of all ages, from 6 even to 60, to grow in their skills. I prefer to teach privately because my teaching methods can be focused on the needs of each individual student. In this way, the student is able to better excel at his or her pace.
