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I started playing the piano formally at the age of 3 1/2. I wrote my first love song to a girl on the piano when I was in first grade, but never played it for her. (Sorry Molly!) Whenever I had access to a piano as a child I was usually 'goofing off' rather than practicing my assignments. I've always been kind of a free spirit that way.
I pretty much constantly took choir growing up, either in school or at church. My first solo was in a school musical when I was in 3rd grade. After that I pretty regularly got selected. But the real stuff didn't come until highschool, when I essentially became the lead tenor in my church's choir. I split my time between playing synth for them and singing solos and working in special vocal ensembles.
College was really a time of growth for me musically. I quit taking piano lessons after all those years, and found out it really reduced my stress. I didn't want to play other people's music; I wanted to play my own. At the same time I was also incredibly honored to make it into Whitman's extremely selective Madrigal Singers. During my senior year I met Kristin Sampson, who helped me spread my Broadway wings as my first musical theater voice teacher. I also took a sound synthesis class that year, and composed several pieces that I later choreographed to.
The final building block, at least to this point, was purchasing my Korg Triton workstation. While I could have bought a car for the same amount of money, I finally had a tool in front of me that really challenged me and set me free.