I was happy to spend some time again in Ensenada, MX, performing with friends and students on the 10th Semana Internacional de la Improvisación (SIDIMPRO). The first concert was a double bill featuring new works by a group of ICIT PhD students from UCI (Emma Houton, Rebecca Larkin, Xuanqi Liu, Brandon Woo Snyder and Reed Wixson), followed by an improvisation … Read more
This summer and fall, we started the Cauces Sónicos (Sonic Channels) project, co-directed by Wilfrido Terrazas and me in collaboration with many other creative artists and students. Cauces is a two-year project with various layers of activities extending across the borderlands region, including professional collaborations to create new music, connecting students and faculty across several universities, and giving workshops for … Read more
I’m happy to announce the start of a new 2-year project I’m co-directing with Wilfrido Terrazas, a creative flutist-improviser and professor at UCSD. Titled Cauces Sónicos: Creative Music Making Across the Borderlands, our project has several layers that integrate artistic, educational and community engagement work, and “will leverage collaborative musical experimentation to explore a kaleidoscopic, expansive notion of the US-México borderlands, … Read more
UC Irvine I’m a professor at the University of California, Irvine, and currently chair of the Department of Music in the Claire Trevor School of the Arts. I teach a wide range of topics and share some of my course syllabi on this page. It’s a privilege to work in various roles at UCI, and to have opportunities to help … Read more
Upcoming events Residency with Cauces Sónicos Ensemble Aug. 19-21, 2026Neofonía Festival, UABC, Ensenada, Mexico Mark Dresser Quintet at The Stone Marty Ehrlich, Michael Dessen, Jacob Sacks, Mark Dresser, Michael SarinOct. 10, 2026The Stone, NYC Cauces Sónicos Ensemble concert Wilfrido Terrazas, Teresa Díaz de Cossio, Álvaro Díaz Rodríguez, Esther Gámez Rubio, Natalia Merlano Gómez, Edwin Montes Roldán, José Luis Rodríguez, Camilo … Read more
Welcome! I’m a composer-improviser and trombonist, and I work in contemporary music worlds that are indebted to jazz and other experimental traditions. My career also includes university teaching, telematic production, intermedia collaboration, and research/writing. I’m grateful to have had many generous mentors and collaborators who opened me to new worlds through their work, and I use this website as an … Read more