Imagine a place stuck in time. All human activity comes to a halt, and the course of nature presides. In 1980, all human development across 2,361,767 acres of land in central Idaho was ceased, creating the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, the largest federally protected wilderness area in the contiguous United States. Now left untouched for 45 years, this landscape tells a unique story of “anti-development.” Wilderness Suite uses images taken before and after the legislation was introduced to protect the Frank Church Wilderness, set into motion by eight video artists, along with live music and pre-recorded electronics, to examine the impression of humankind on the environments it inhabits. This interdisciplinary collaboration unites scientists, filmmakers, and musicians, drawing from and shedding light on the stories of the place and the people associated with it.

This video is unlisted in advance of the upcoming premiere performances on Feb. 20, 21, 22, 2026 at the Voxel.

This live performance features The Witches - Louna Dekker-Vargas, flute and vocals; and Ledah Finck, violin and vocals. This piece was written for them for their 2016 "Behind the Curtain" project, a set of commissioned pieces that delve musically into the multifaceted possibilities of what it means to be a female human interacting with her world. I got the idea for "i'm sorry, not sorry" when I read that Hillary Clinton was the first presidential candidate in US history to say the words "I'm sorry" to her supporters during her concession speech after losing the 2016 election to Donald Trump. I found that shocking and it made me think about how strange it is that women feel the need to apologize so much more than men. Beyoncé has an awesome and powerful song called "Sorry" that features the lyrics "Sorry, I ain't sorry," which gave me the idea for the words and the concept of the piece. 

This video features a live performance of the double bass and voice duo, LIGAMENT - Anika Kildegaard, voice and Will Yager, bass. This work was inspired by the Better Babies competitions of the early 20th century.

"Do you love your baby? Of course you do; so does your neighbor who has no baby, and the bachelor who pretends he thinks babies a nuisance. Everybody loves a baby and that is why the Better Babies movement is the sensation of the present day. It is founded on sane hygiene living for the baby. Moscow will have its first Better Babies contest at the Latah county fair. Take your baby to this new kind of show and find out whether it is a perfect baby and it not why not. The doctors who are to do the judging will be able to tell you by means of the Better Babies standard score card under which your baby will be weighed measured and tested, and if it is perfect or nearly perfect anyway, the best baby in the town or country it will receive a prize worth having, not only in cash but a

This video features Anna Roberts-Gevalt on violin and voice, and Ruby Fulton on spoons. I wrote "the end" originally for a one-woman band, Philippa Thompson. Since spoons are played with the use of a flat surface (normally the player's knee), Philippa was able to play the spoons pattern on top of the ukulele sitting on a table, while singing the vocal part. Nobody since has been able to play this by themselves and it is often performed with either two or three players instead! This live performance has a slightly different instrumentation (violin instead of ukulele) and is a little rough around the edges but I like the energy anyway. 

When Dan Deacon called me to up come improvise some violin melodies for a soundtrack he was working on, I was delighted. When that music did not make it into the film, I was slightly disappointed but soon forgot about it. Several years later, I got a request for some of the music I had recorded that day to be used on a track in his album, Mystic Familiar. I couldn't ever remember what I had played. Imagine my excitement to hear my looping violin arpeggios on "Weeping Birch" and a bit later, my surprise to hear the song played on TV a Volkswagen commercial that aired during the 2022 World Cup tournament! 

In 2013, I traveled with a group of Baltimore musicians to Wonderland Studio in Woodstock, NY to record violin and viola for the Future Islands album "Seasons," arranged by Patrick McMinn.

On a snowy January weekend in 2024, I joined fellow string players Gracie Carney and Peter Kibbe at Tempo House to record string parts arranged by James Young for Ravi S.'s recent release, "Bodied Body."

I recently performed Bashi Rose's brand new composition "Three Tone Destruction of Oppression", featuring Bashi on drumset, with a small orchestra of musicians from Mind on Fire. We are currently in the planning phases to record this music in the studio. Coming soon! Here is a video of one of the live performances at Lovely Lane Church.

"Blood of a Poet" Part 1, "the wounded hand or the scars of a poet." Excerpt from Jean Cocteau's 1930 film rescored by Ruby Fulton performed by Ruby Fulton, Eneida Larti and Kate Skinner live from 2023 Kenworthy Silent Film Festival in Moscow, ID. I also had the opportunity to perform this work in Baltimore with Nonoka Mizukami and Kristen Toedtman at Le Mondo.

Inc, Inc, Inc is Ruby Fulton, violin; Andrew Histand, cello; and Michael Shank, guitar. The three of us have been making music together ever since we were housemates when I was a grad student at Peabody in 2009. Inc, Inc, Inc is a band that grew out of a previous band of ours called Ike Shark, Incorporated. We recently recorded an album at Tempo House called "Incantation" that is coming out soon.

I have been playing music with the Barnyard Sharks for over a decade. 12-Foot Skeleton is a music video released for Halloween this year. Directed by Bridget Cimino, cinematography and editing by Cameron Granadino.

It was an incredible experience to be part of Mind on Fire's presentation of 20 simultaneous performances at the Enoch Pratt Library main branch. At around 0:58, you can catch me improvising on violins with Gracie Carney.