After a career as a saxophone soloist and orchestra conductor, I recently completed a master's degree in international business and diplomacy in Paris. Here’s a brief recap of how I connected the dots.
I am extremely grateful for what music instilled in me. The value of mentorship, of trust and collaboration, the beauty of cultural inclusion and the pursuit of harmony are pillars I have carried within me ever since.
In this regard, Sherman’s work and community resonated deeply with me. I have the firm intention to push myself and others to do their best, and if I can touch one soul with half the warmth and care some people have had for me along the way, I’ll have much to be proud of.
I started playing the saxophone in a rock band when I was 8 years old and entered the conservatory aged 13. Music made me evolve early in diversity and showed me what it takes to bring heterogeneity into symbiosis. There, I gained a better grasp on the notion of differences – cultural, social, philosophical, physical. I also realized that harmony is a process, as opposed to a static state. It is a joint pursuit based on a shared intention.
My time as an orchestra conductor was fundamental in my evolution. It was during my life in Vienna that I had my first contact with this profession. At that time, my professor and friend Theodor Guschlbauer challenged me in remarkable ways. Theodor was born in Austria in 1939 and absorbed the entire Viennese musical heritage and savoir-faire/know-how. One of the few students of Herbert von Karajan, Theodor showed me what true craftsmanship and dedication to art is. He played a fundamental role in pushing me to seek more accountability in everything I did. At that time, I created my own orchestra, which convinced me even further of how powerful human bonds can be. While music developed me in the ways described above, I also gradually realized that I had undernourished/neglected certain aspects of myself.
While still being a conductor, I educated myself on subjects that always fascinated me. I took online classes and in person courses – while making my way into schools I was not officially affiliated with – and devoured books. This adventure led me to enter a master’s degree in international business and diplomacy in Paris.
The program was excellent at combining finance and economics with international relations, topics I am equally fascinated by. It was an ideal blend of my aspiration to seek cultural diversity and my desire to create, be it a business, an institution, etc.
Since the beginning of my master’s degree, I have been working for the France committee of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC), chaired by Pascal Lamy, former director of the World Trade Organization. The PECC aims to bring together diplomats, entrepreneurs and researchers to foster economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. I assist the Secretary General in defining the overall committee’s strategy. I also organize conferences - e.g., on the blue economy, sustainable tourism, IT supply chain restructuring, deep-sea mining - and provide financial and geopolitical analysis that feed into high stake negotiations.
More recently, I have started work as a consultant at Volentia, a strategy consulting firm that tackles topics as diverse as geopolitics, business, and public affairs. Shifting between these subjects is a challenge I enjoy a lot.
Personally and professionally, I am intrigued to understand how things and people work, and why. Juggling multiple perspectives simultaneously, I like to imagine how to enhance structures and systems.
I want to thank Sandenna McMaster, my fiancée, for introducing me to Sherman. Her insights as to how naturally we would bond proved to be true beyond any expectations.
As noted, I met Léo via his wonderful fiancé, Sandenna, who has been a wonderful Trebuchet team member. My initial conversation with Léo extended for nearly three hours. He is intelligent, intriguing, talented, and as thoughtful and compelling a young man I have met in many years. An original composition by Léo, Japanese Wind, can be found here. His video is accompanied by photos taken by Léo on his ascent of Mount Fuji.
