I hold degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. My composition mentors include Samuel Adler, Robert Morris, Joseph Schwantner, Warren Benson and Salvatore Martirano. I have received awards from ASCAP (Piano Etudes, 1991) and BMI (HEADSPIN for 8 saxophones and 2 amplified pianos, 1987). I am a member of the BONK Composers’ Collective as a composer and performer. As a pianist, I’ve performed an extensive array of 20-century solo and chamber music and as a member of the THUMP Piano Duo with composer-pianist Drew Krause, I’ve performed and recorded a large repertoire of duo piano music. I’ve also recorded Eric Richards’ 3-piano work “The Bells Themselves: Jonathan Edwards and the American Songbook” for New World Records, playing all three parts. I’ve also performed an extyensive range of chamber repertoire with my wife, violinist Ruxandra Marquardt-Simionescu. I live outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico and hike in the beautiful New Mexico wilderness looking for fossils, rocks, musical inspiration, and spiritual fulfillment. Some recent artistic endeavors include ambient electronic music, solo piano music and writing composition automation software.

I work at a large National Laboratory, where I design desktop Linux environments focused on high-security restricted and classified networks. I have extensive experience with Linux and Open Source software and network services, and have extensive experience with the Python and Java programming languages, and the Ansible configuration management language and framework. I also hold a CISSP Certification. I generally use the Ubuntu Linux distribution(s) but have much experience with Red Hat Enterprise Linux and supporting services, such as Satellite and Ansible Automation Platform (formerly Ansible Tower).