About me
I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with a cello almost as big as I was. By the age of seven, I was performing as soloist with orchestras, and soon thereafter, I found myself in the soundproofed practice rooms of The Juilliard School, studying with some of the great teachers who shaped me.
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After finishing at Juilliard, I moved to Berlin quite by accident. I toured with contemporary music ensembles and orchestras and played chamber music in festivals and concert halls across Europe, Asia, and the United States. At 24, I became principal cellist of the Deutsche Oper Berlin under Christian Thielemann, and later played as principal with the Staatskapelle Berlin under Daniel Barenboim. From the outside, it was a dream career: world stages, world-class colleagues, status and recognition.
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The inner story was considerably more complex. Like many high achievers, I was burning out, performing through exhaustion, and losing the joy that had first drawn me to music. I began stepping off the traditional path: playing in my brother’s rock band, founding a trio that blended classical and non-classical music, and eventually following my love of language as well. Working alongside Daniel Barenboim, I edited his book Everything is Connected, a collection of his essays on music and life, and later authored An Orchestra Beyond Borders, a book about the musicians of the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra. Writing gave me another way to explore what had always fascinated me: how music touches our humanity, how it carries us through conflict, and how it connects us to one another.
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Teaching became another thread — at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Seville, the Musikhochschule Stuttgart, and eventually the Music University of Freiburg — where I guided the next generation of musicians even as I kept questioning what a sustainable, soulful life in music could look like.
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Today, I call my work Musical Alchemy. It is the weaving together of everything I’ve lived: the precision of classical training, the freedom of improvisation, the sensitivity of a life spent reading and holding emotion. In these sessions and concerts, I use improvised cello music, deep listening, and guided reflection to help people move through the emotions that feel stuck or overwhelming — and return to themselves with clarity, strength, and peace.
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Whether through writing or music, my path has always been about the same thing: finding resonance, and helping others feel it too.
