Hi. I'm Dr. J.
But please just call me J.

I was born and raised in Michigan. I did my undergraduate degree in classical guitar performance, and played in a bunch of rock bands and jazz groups. After undergrad, I moved to Baltimore for a Masters at the Peabody Conservatory. I ended up doing two: a Masters in Composition and another in Electronic Music. Then I made my way to Minnesota for a PhD in Music Composition.
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After getting way over-educated, I landed several professorship jobs. I bounced around a bit, but eventually made my way back to the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul) where I still live today.
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Write your awesome label here.

I started teaching online around 2010, as an experiment, just to see if I could reach more students in a more affordable way. And it worked.

I built a worldwide community of students while still keeping my university job. When the pandemic hit, I had more time for online teaching. Unlike most professors, I was already prepared for it, and honestly? I thrived. After a decade of classroom teaching, I found online education incredibly comfortable and effective.
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In 2024 I left my tenured professorship to do this full time.
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Of course, in addition to teaching I write a bunch of music. I've written music for film, TV, and games. I've released music under a bunch of different names, including my own. I've put out "classical" albums, EDM albums, other genre albums, and many more. I've had a few tracks hit the charts (one of them knocked Ariana Grande off the CMJ charts for a few days. My claim to fame.) Once you get into the class, you can get your hands on some of my full track sessions to poke around with (including the Ariana Grande one.)
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What else is there to know about me? 
You can read my full biography [here], or check out the Wikipedia page someone made [here].
I like to run and do the occasional marathon. In the winter I ski and snowboard. I love sci-fi books and movies. I live with my 5-year-old son River, my wife Erin, and our dog Jinx.

Find me in the usual social media places.

Ask me anything.

I have weekly office hours live on Zoom for all our students, and once you sign up you will get access to that. But in the meantime, use this form to shoot me a message. I'm happy to answer any questions about the program here that you have.

How can I help?

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