Edward - Acoustic, Bass, Classical, Electric Guitar
Born and raised in the Baltimore-Washington area, Edward formally began his study of music at the age of 8, playing violin in his elementary school orchestra, and would begin teaching himself to play the guitar around the age of 12. As a teenager, he learned to busk in Annapolis and Washington, DC with his teacher Vasili Frankos, and played occasional weddings and events. His first brush with professional-level music came when he played for the Baltimore Youth Summer Orchestra camp, playing the original scores of pieces like Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings and Stravinsky’s Firebird.
After graduating high school, Edward shifted his primary focus to the guitar, studying first under the tutelage of Baltimore-based jazz-guitarist Michael Raitzik, and then with Toledo’s own Jay Weik. This period of study widened his appreciation for the value of musicianship, as his passion and joy for making music translated into a newfound sense of discipline and self-improvement which he had previously struggled to find in traditional studies. In 2019, Edward began teaching privately, with a focus on creative musicianship and improvisation, hoping to impart that same ethos of creatively induced discipline to his students, both young and old. In January of 2020, he toured the northeast as a substitute bassist for Maryland pop-punk outfit Kings of the Wild Things, and in 2023 he was hired to play in the pit band for a local production of the musical Be More Chill. You can find him playing at jazz jam sessions around the Toledo area.
Edward is currently pursuing a degree in Music Education at the University of Toledo, where he is a recipient of a merit scholarship for performance in the Jazz Ensemble, as well as playing viola in the UT Orchestra under Norm Damschroder.
After graduating high school, Edward shifted his primary focus to the guitar, studying first under the tutelage of Baltimore-based jazz-guitarist Michael Raitzik, and then with Toledo’s own Jay Weik. This period of study widened his appreciation for the value of musicianship, as his passion and joy for making music translated into a newfound sense of discipline and self-improvement which he had previously struggled to find in traditional studies. In 2019, Edward began teaching privately, with a focus on creative musicianship and improvisation, hoping to impart that same ethos of creatively induced discipline to his students, both young and old. In January of 2020, he toured the northeast as a substitute bassist for Maryland pop-punk outfit Kings of the Wild Things, and in 2023 he was hired to play in the pit band for a local production of the musical Be More Chill. You can find him playing at jazz jam sessions around the Toledo area.
Edward is currently pursuing a degree in Music Education at the University of Toledo, where he is a recipient of a merit scholarship for performance in the Jazz Ensemble, as well as playing viola in the UT Orchestra under Norm Damschroder.
