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Overview
About Me
I'm a graduate from Berklee College of Music (class of 2019) in Boston, MA (I also studied abroad twice in Valencia, Spain). I am a music composer for visual media influenced mainly by world music, modern jazz, and film music and I moved to Madrid after graduating to work as an assistant to a composer for film and TV. Now I’m working for a different composer in my hometown of LA, and also working for a nonprofit that gives free music education to low income youth. I consider my main influences to be Tigran Hamasyan, Dustin O'Halloran, Ólafur Arnalds, Julian Lage, and Ramin Djawadi. I graduated as a Film Scoring major, with a minor in Video Game Scoring.
Sharing cultures and ideas are some of my main reasons for traveling. Of course I'd like to see the sights in the cities that I travel, but I'm mostly excited about getting to know people and becoming more connected with the world. It's really important for me to have connections with people from different cultures with different perspectives because it teaches me more about myself and how to be more understanding and empathetic.
As a student, I have roomed with people from across the US, from China, Canada, Poland, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Brazil, Hungary, and Italy! Berklee, which has an international student body which is over 40% of the total student body, has given me an opportunity to become closer to people from literally all over the world. I want to continue to have experiences with people from around the world so I can be a better person!
Why I’m on Couchsurfing
I live to travel. In 2017, I went to 27 cities in Europe: London, Valencia, Alicante, Granada, Xátiva, Malaga, Sevilla, Berlin, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Cologne, Brussels, Paris, Geneva, Thun, Bern, Interlaken, Milan, Genova, Monaco, Nice, Marseille, Toulouse, Barcelona, Madrid, Córdoba, and Vila Real de San Antonio. Some of those trips have been with friends, but traveling alone is so much better. I visited 19 of those cities within 28 days- by myself! I've stayed with Couchsurfing all over Europe and they were some of the best experiences of my life. Meeting people from around the world, in their home, adds so much to the experience of travel.
In 2017 I finished my solo trip to 19 cities in 28 days in Sevilla, Spain on June 18.
This was my European adventure:
London, England 🏴
Amsterdam, Netherlands 🇳🇱
Cologne, Germany 🇩🇪
Brussels, Belgium 🇧🇪
Paris, France 🇫🇷
Geneva, Switzerland 🇨🇭
Bern, Switzerland 🇨🇭
Interlaken, Switzerland 🇨🇭
Thun, Switzerland 🇨🇭
Milan, Italy 🇮🇹
Genoa, Italy 🇮🇹
Monaco, Monaco 🇲🇨
Nice, France 🇫🇷
Marseille, France 🇫🇷
Toulouse, France 🇫🇷
Barcelona, Spain 🇪🇸
Madrid, Spain 🇪🇸
Córdoba, Spain 🇪🇸
Sevilla, Spain 🇪🇸
Vila Real de Santo Antonio, Portugal 🇵🇹
Other cities I’ve been to outside of the US on other trips:
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico 🇲🇽
Roatán, Honduras 🇭🇳
Dublin, Ireland 🇮🇪
Lisbon, Portugal 🇵🇹
Reykjavik, Iceland 🇮🇸
Frankfurt, Germany 🇩🇪
Vienna, Austria 🇦🇹
Tangier, Morocco 🇲🇦
Chefchaouen, Morocco 🇲🇦
Stockholm, Sweden 🇸🇪
Copenhagen, Denmark 🇩🇰
Aranjuez, Spain 🇪🇸
Ávila, Spain 🇪🇸
El Escorial, Spain 🇪🇸
Toledo, Spain 🇪🇸
Cities I’ve lived in:
Los Angeles, California (born and raised) 🇺🇸
Boston, Massachusetts (university) 🇺🇸
Valencia, Spain (university) 🇪🇸
Madrid, Spain (internship) 🇪🇸
US states I’ve visited:
California
Hawaii
Arizona
Nevada
Washington
Massachusetts
Rhode Island
New York
Connecticut
Pennsylvania
West Virginia
Maryland
Texas
Interests
- culture
- traveling
- music
- jazz
- history
- film
- experiencing new things
- talking
- listening
- making friends
- chatting
- jazz music
Music, Movies, and Books
I can go on about music for days. I mostly listen to world music since that is my main focus as a performer/composer, but I also like a wide variety of artists from many different genres. As for movies, I don't really have favorites, I just like to watch them (I took a great History of Spanish Film class in Valencia also). Since I spend so much time on my music, I don't have a ton of time to read even though I love reading :(
Music:
Kurt Rosenwinkel, Julian Lage, Gilad Hekselman, Ben Wendel, Ambrose Akinmusire, Tigran Hamasyan, Kendrick Lamar, Snarky Puppy, Coldplay, Muse, Sigur Ros, Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, John Scofield, Pat Metheny, Sara Gazarek, Gregory Porter, Bill Evans, Kamasi Washington, Jacob Collier and Norah Jones.
Movies:
Coco, Into The Wild, The Shawshank Redemption, The Book Thief, Lion, Inside Out, Boyhood, Interstellar, Saving Private Ryan, American Sniper, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Mar Adentro, Glory, Expedition Happiness, Blancanieves
Books:
All The Light We Cannot See, To Kill a Mockingbird, Autobiography of Miles Davis, Spell of The Sensuous, So Good They Can't Ignore You, The Power of Now
One Amazing Thing I’ve Done
My solo trip to 19 cities in 28 days was pretty incredible, I learned an enormous amount about myself, the world, and how kind and welcoming people can be.
Teach, Learn, Share
I was a Core Music Tutor at Berklee, which means that I can teach all of the "core" music classes that all Berklee students are required to take! This includes music theory/ harmony, traditional harmony, counterpoint, conducting, and ear training. I also play guitar and piano so I can really teach a lot about music!
What I Can Share with Hosts
If any hosts have a guitar, I would be more than happy to play a mini private concert for you! I will not be traveling with mine since its a bit much to carry it around. If I have some time while I am traveling, I'd also be happy to give a small lesson on how to play guitar or music theory. Also, I love getting to know people, so I would be more than happy to spend some time hanging out with you/ cooking you dinner/ buying you a drink.
Countries I’ve Visited
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Honduras, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
Countries I’ve Lived In
Spain, United States