AUTOBIOGRAPHY

I came from what would be called a "musical family" and focused my attention on the Guitar, Bass, and Violin. I was mostly a self-taught player and through endless trial and error achieved a decent level of success. It was at that point that I decided to take it to the next level.

I formally studied music at The Atlanta Institute of Music and later, under music scholarships at the University of West Georgia and Clayton State University. I have studied with some very talented instructors and professors including Lyster Bass, Dr. Daniel Bakos, and Russ Rodgers. At CSU, I also studied modern violin performance under the lineage of Jasha Heifetz through the husband-wife team of Mr. Homer and Mrs. Doris Holloway and early/baroque violin performance under the direction of early music extraordinaire Dr. Lyle Nordstrom and Baroque Violinist Julie Andrijeski. I continued my music composition studies under Dr. Brent Weaver.

While studying music at CSU (the home of world renown Spivey Hall), I made several appearances as soloist, chamber player, and concert master. I also played in the first violin section of the Southern Crescent Symphony Orchestra for three years. To earn income, I led a very successful music instruction program in Douglasville, GA. In this position, I instructed 45 students per week (Guitar, Violin, and Bass) and led a team of six great instructors with around 120 total recurring students (all instruments). We had a lot of fun and rewarding experiences in that music practice!

Over the years, I have performed as a Rock and R&B band member, classical guitar soloist, violin soloist, chamber player, orchestral player, and taught private lessons. The diversity of experience has been a long, winding road and the experience has proved to be invaluable. Along the way, I also learned how to build, customize, repair and maintain all my own equipment.

Music Composition has been a part of my life since my teen years. Early on, the compositions were for electric rock band. Later, they moved to classical music. In recent years, both styles have come together to develop professional quality works which are now available in the OtwellMusic.com^® online shop in various media types (mp3, audio CD, printed sheet music, and electronic PDFs).

Stay tuned... the adventure continues.