Soprano Natalie Mann has recently released a new album of songs, “Rendezvous in the Salon” on Albany Records. Included on the album is my second song cycle, “New England Folk Songs,” a collection of songs that describe the seasons in New England. The texts for the songs are written by Louisa May Alcott, Emily Dickinson, and Sarah Orne Jewett.
Listen on YouTube
Listen on Spotify
As the Midwest Clinic 2023 begins, I’m excited to announce the release of a new book “Chorales from an Inclusive Repertoire” published by Murphy Music Press, that includes two original chorales of mine.
"Ceremony of Mirrors" presents a theme in major and the relative minor, and the theme has parts that are mirror and palindrome-like. "Suspended in a Dream" uses a number of suspensions throughout - a sound that I remember captivating me as a young saxophonist. I hope that these small pieces will be helpful to directors and their student musicians!
Explore the book and listen to the chorales here.
From Murphy Music Press:
For Midwest 2023, we are excited to announce the release of the second installment in our Expanding the Canon Series: Chorales From An Inclusive Repertoire. This new resource is a fresh entry of 14 original works into the chorale idiom. This resource allows not only for much needed musical growth for the medium, but also an important step in diversifying the voices present in the chorale space, which has yet to be well explored.
Edited by Eric Laprade, the resource is scored in SATB format, with part books provided in the typical band transpositions, so that each instrument has the option of performing the S,A,T, or B part. Serving as either a supplement to your concert performances of works from this group of composers, or as an entry point for introducing these voices to your students, the fourteen chorales are presented as follows:
Chorale 1, Cuyahoga by Nicole Piunno
Chorale 2, Suspended in a Dream by Steve Danyew
Chorale 3, Evening River by Cait Nishimura
Chorale 4, Lullaby (Jenn's Version) by Jennifer Jolley
Chorale 5, Indigo Dusk by Sally Lamb McCune
Chorale 6, Cloud Dreams by Kevin Day
Chorale 7, Como Bach by Giovanni Santos
Chorale 8, Ceremony of Mirrors by Steve Danyew
Chorale 9, Recollection by Lindsay Bronnenkant
Chorale 10, Orange Dawn by Sally Lamb McCune
Chorale 11, Scioto by Nicole Piunno
Chorale 12, Flow by Viet Cuong
Chorale 13, A Song for David Dickerson by Giovanni Santos
Chorale 14, Majestic Wonder by Kevin Day
I’m honored that “American Nocturne” was named a finalist for this year’s American Bandmasters Association Sousa-ABA-Ostwald Award. Congrats to fellow finalist James David and this year’s winner, Andrew David Perkins.
I’m grateful to Alan Mills and the Rocky Mountain Commissioning Project for commissioning “American Nocturne” and for bringing the work to life. Thank you also to the consortium members listed below!
Commissioned by the Rocky Mountain Commissioning Project
for the 14th Annual Colorado State University Pueblo Festival of Winds
Liz Connor Kodadek, Apex Friendship High School, NC
Paula A Crider, Austin, TX
George and Colleen Eastman, Brighton, CO
Neil Guy, Cherokee Trail High School, CO
Dan and Kari Bell, Colorado Springs, CO
Alan W. Mills, Colorado State University Pueblo
Chad Dempsey, Edinburg North High School Band, TX
Ryan Lipscomb, Edwardsville High School, IL
Chris Barnes and Jake Opperman, Fond du Lac High School, WI
Shaun R. Popp, Henderson State University
Timothy McGarvey, Houghton College
Michael Berning, Kettering City Schools, Kettering, OH
Ted Ferrucci, Los Altos High School Bands, CA
Jackie Townsend, Lubbock Christian University
Jon Conrad, McLennan College, Waco, Texas
David Kish, Metropolitan State University of Denver
Doris Doyon, Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut, CA
Adrian Holton, National Concert Band of America
Andrew Killgore, North Carolina
Raleigh "Butch" Eversole, Palmer Ridge High School, Monument, CO
David M. Blon, Purdue University
Amanda Kaus, Rochester Century High School, MN
Joseph Higgins, Rowan University
Jonathan Helmick, Slippery Rock University
Robert M. Schwartz, Southeastern Louisiana University
Jim Blankenship and Micah Ewing, Sycamore High School, OH
Carter Biggers, Texas Woman’s University
Timothy Kaiser, Tucson, AZ
Bill Tiberio, University of Rochester
John Oelrich, University of Tennessee at Martin
Justin Davis, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
Alex Kaminsky, VanderCook College of Music NBA Collegiate Chapter
Michael Zens, Whitnall High School, WI
Edward F. Protzman, William Mason High School, OH
Patrick K. Carney, Winter Haven, FL
Bradley Faryniarz, Woodhaven High School Bands, MI
Premiere Performance
Colorado State University Pueblo
Hoag Recital Hall
Saturday February 12, 2022
CSU Pueblo Wind Ensemble
Alan W. Mills, Conductor
Earlier this year I began a commission project for Fond du Lac High School in Wisconsin who is celebrating their 20th anniversary of a holiday prism concert titled “Night of Silence.” They asked me compose a finale for the concert, a work that would combine the three different ensembles that perform on the prism concert: orchestra, band, and choir.
After thinking about possible texts and concepts for the work, I eventually had the idea to create a setting of the iconic poem “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” (Well, actually, the title of the poem is “A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore, but we commonly know it by the poem’s opening line, “Twas the Night Before Christmas…”) I was surprised to find relatively few choral settings of this famous poem - there are plenty of versions where the poem is narrated, but few where the words are sung.
The work begins as a sort of lullaby, reflecting the early lines in the poem that speak of everyone being “all tucked in their beds.” But once St. Nick is spotted on the front lawn, the work moves into a blues, with a fun and exciting energy that infuses the rest of the piece. I think it will be fun to perform and to listen to, and I look forward to working with the students as they prepare for the premiere on December 8th!
I also plan to release multiple versions of the piece in 2024: I’m planning to release an SATB + Piano version, an SATB + Orchestra version, an SATB + Band version, and the version that will be premiered in Fond du Lac - SATB + Orchestra (with additional saxophones and euphonium).
More soon!
This week I finished “Ancient Light,” a new grade 4.5 piece commissioned by a consortium organized by the Oregon Band Directors Association. The piece will be premiered in January 2024 by the Oregon All-State Band, conducted by Jamie Nix.
The piece is inspired by the stunning photographs of deep space taken by the new James Webb Space Telescope. The Webb Telescope has the astounding ability to take photos of space as it appeared millions of years ago. Light that is truly ancient (hence the title of the piece) travels through space for millions of years to reach the Webb Telescope and it’s camera.
Musically, I tried to capture the speed and excitement of that light, and also the mysterious nature of deep space. I can’t wait to get the music in the hands of these outstanding young musicians! Preview the score and midi recording here.
For me, the most fascinating aspect of the new James Webb Space Telescope is the fact that it can take pictures of deep space as it was MILLIONS(!) of years ago. It is able to see things that are incredibly distant - millions of light years away. It literally takes millions of years for light to travel to us from those depths of space. The sheer size of space is truly mind blowing!
“Ancient Light” is a new piece inspired by the Webb Telescope and this idea of light that is millions of years old, traveling to us and revealing something from distant space that is millions of years old.
This piece will be premiered in early 2024 by the Oregon All-State Band. Here’s a preview of a section I’ve been working on lately:
As everyone who attended Midwest 2022 knows, it was one for the books! All the events on the final day of the conference (Thursday 12/22) were moved to Wednesday, as a winter storm was heading for Chicago and was arriving on Thursday. So, the Spring ISD Alumni Band’s performance, which was originally scheduled for Thursday morning at 8:30am, was moved to Wednesday evening at 7pm (well, first it was moved to 8pm, and then moved up at the last minute to 7pm!)
Even with these last minute changes, the Spring ISD Alumni band performed a remarkable concert to a very appreciative audience at Midwest. I was blown away to learn that this band was founded just over a year ago, and here they were performing at Midwest, arguably the most prestigious performance opportunity for a “community band.” Amazing. And their performance of “Lamentation for Euphonium and Wind Ensemble,” led by conductor Trent Cooper, was truly beautiful and moving. Irving Ray was able to be there to perform the solo part with the ensemble, and he gave an incredible performance. It was an honor to listen to Irving and the ensemble perform this piece.
In the rehearsal just hours before the performance, they played through the piece from start to finish and I got a little choked up when talking to the group. I was not prepared for the beauty and the sensitive musicianship that they brought to the piece, and after not hearing the piece live since early 2020, it really affected me.
It was also a special performance because Irving’s wife Annie was there to play harp on the piece. If that wasn’t enough, Brian Gibbs and Matthew McInturf from Sam Houston State University (who commissioned the piece) were there, and had been working with Trent and the ensemble on the piece. It really felt like a family and I’m so honored to be part of it.
It was also wonderful to see many friends and colleagues at the conference, having not seen many of them in several years! Our community is a special one, and I’m grateful to be part of it. Onward to 2023, and best wishes for a great year ahead!
Le Voleur
Grade 5 Wind Band
5'
This summer, while improvising ideas at the piano, I came up with a jazzy, dance-like harmonic progression that I've been developing into a new piece, Le Voleur (The Thief). The music has a secretive and exciting quality to it, which reminded me of the "gentleman burglar," Arsène Lupin. I learned about this French literary character earlier this year through the Netflix show Lupin. This summer I read several of the short stories by Maurice Leblanc, who created the character Arsène Lupin in 1905.
You can listen to a preview of the music in the video below. Set in a swing style, I think this will be a fun piece for all players.
The cost of the consortium is $300, which will include recognition in the score, PDF score and parts delivered by December 15, 2022, and exclusive rights to premiere performances throughout the Spring 2023 semester. To join the consortium, email me or complete the form on this page. If you have questions, feel free to reach out!
Greetings, friends! I hope you are enjoying your summer as much as I am! Along with some exciting woodworking projects, gardening, and visits with family and friends, I’m working on several compositions that I’m enjoying.
I’ve been writing a set of “Three Preludes for Piano,” each based on an inspiring place - Garrett Chapel in the Finger Lakes of NY, Rockingham Meeting House in the Green Mountains of VT, and Parrocchia San Martino in Ispra, Italy. I’m co-writing the preludes with my wife Ashley which is super fun.
I recently created a wind band transcription of my SSAA choral work “Our Light.” The band version is titled “Message of Light,” and I’m thrilled with how it came out!
I’m also working on a jazzy tango-inspired piece about the adventures of the French character Arsene Lupin. I’ve sketched the piece out for piano and I’m starting to orchestrate it for wind band. I think it is going to be a really fun piece! Stay tuned for more!