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July 26th, 2006: Once again, my negligence in udating this page regularly has resulted in a lot of news at once: the Center for Advanced Musical Studies @ Chosen Vale was a big success. I met a lot of wonderful people, and got to hang out with some of my absolute idols of the trumpet - Thomas Stevens, Mark Gould, Markus Stockhausen, Gabriele Cassone, and Stephen Burns. Congratulations to Ed Carroll for putting this thing together - it was really awonderful and memorable 2 weeks. Since that time, I've been lucky enough to record with Harris Eisenstadt at Paramount Studio C for his upcoming album release - a remake of Wayne Shorter's "The All Seeing Eye," and perform at Club Tropical and the California State Summer School for the Arts with PLOTZ! - thanks to them for making that spectacular. Now PLOTZ! is gearing up for our 1st major album recording at the end of August - in our recent publicity efforts on MySpace we've managed to really increase our fan base and reach new people all over the world. And finally, David Veslocki and I have officially released the 'VR' debut recordings in an exclusively online release, available here for only 99¢ per song - that's a total of only $3!!! Anyway, that's about it for now...hope you're all well.

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June 11th, 2006: So I know it's been a while since I last updated the "News" portion of my website. But that certainly doesn't mean there hasn't been anything to report. April was filled with great performances and opportunities. I got to play with the Grande Mothers of Invention (Frank Zappa's original band members), which was absolutely incredible! Ed Carroll's "Foresight 20/20" concert at CalArts was a big success with a lot of amazing trumpet playing. I got to play Easter at the Hollywood Bowl, which was an interesting way to realize the dream of performing there, but it was cool. PLOTZ! had a few gigs, and I ded several recording sessions, notably for the Industrial Jazz Group. May was packed with performances as well. Vinny Golia Large Ensemble (student version) at REDCAT, a brass quintet performance at Walt Disney Concert Hall, UCLA Brass Choir with Patrick Sheridan, my MM Graduation Recital at UCLA, I had my birthday, and my student, Austin Foley, gave a great performance of "Rhapsody in Blue" as the Featured Artist at his elementary school district's concert. June has been a blast so far as well. I got to play with the LA Trumpet Quartet at Club Tropical in conjunction with a Brad Dutz's Obliteration quartet (percussion), which was very fun, and I just got back from the International Trumpet Guild's annual conference, where I premiered a new piece they commissioned by Anne LeBaron. "Way of Light," as it's titled, was a huge success and got a great review on the ITG website. In a week, I go to Chosen Vale, New Hampshire, where there is another trumpet conference, but this one is more of a seminare with outstanding faculty, so that will be a pleasure to be a part of. Anyway, I'll try to be regular about these updates...

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March 27th, 2006: I'm here in Roussillon, France, where I'm recording music for a German TV movie with Irmin Schmidt (of CAN and Spoon Records) and it is absolutely beautiful. The scenery is incredible and the music has been a blast! More information on the film when it is finished...

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March 21st, 2006: Last night, we, the students of the CalArts music program, performed Terry Riley's 'In C' at Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles to incredible effect. The orchestra of 124 musicians wowed the audience who immediately jumped to their feet in resounding applause. It was truly and event to remember. Look for reviews in the LA Times and Variety.

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March 10th, 2006: Well, Dave and I did it. We came up with an awesome album...we abandoned (for now) the pieces we had written and simply improvised on some spiritual and visual ideas. It came out absolutely beautifully. So be on the look out for our first album as a duo, 'Incantaion.'

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March 2nd, 2006: Next week, specifically March 4th-9th, I will be workshopping and recording an album of original Guitar and Trumpet duos written by myself and my friend Dave Veslocki. Wish us luck!

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Febraury 18th, 2006: Well, it finally happened. I've officially released my debut album, 'Bloodier, Mean Son' for sale. This is all very exciting for me, as I'm sure you can imagine. Last night, the CD Release Concert went extremely well and was met with nothing but positive feedback. So, I'm officially saying, "WOOHOO!!!"

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YEAR IN REVIEW: (12/28/05) Well, as the year comes to a close, I've decided to wrap up 2005 with a little year in review. This year has seen the completion of my debut solo CD "Bloodier, Mean Son," the formation and first recording of PLOTZ!, the UCLA Trumpet Ensemble winning 1st place at the National Trumpet Competition, a tour of my father's music to the UK, me joining the Industrial Jazz Group and a small tour of California with them, a great residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts, the foundation of the Los Angeles Brass Consort, the awards of the Yvar Mikhashoff Trust for New Music and the Elain Krown Klein UCLA Affiliates scholarship, some fantastic concerts of new and exciting music, some absolutely incredible instruction from Jens Lindemann, Edward Carroll, Vinny Golia, Miroslav Tadic, Mark Trayle, Robert Winter, John Wallace, Bryan Allen, Mark O'Keefe, Alain Trudel, some new and exciting ideas born, and some absolutely wonderful friends made (you all know who you are). All in all, I'd say it's been a productive year. Hopefully, I can keep up the productivity carrying into 2006.

WATCH FOR NEW NEWS IN 2006! HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!