"This World Alive" - Coming Soon!

The new winds & film consortium piece that I have mentioned many times before is complete!  The music and film are done and everything is about to be sent out to the 27 consortium members. We are thrilled with the response and support that this project has received, and we thank all of the consortium members for helping make this work possible!  You can view the full list of schools and read the new program note for the piece here.  In the program note I explain the inspiration for the title that we chose - This World Alive.

In the coming months, I will be providing updates here as the performances of this new piece are scheduled.  After seeing the beautiful film produced by Cuyler Bryant on my little computer screen, I can't wait to experience the complete work with live film projection and wind ensemble.  Stay tuned for more!

Advent Hymn Arrangements

This past Sunday, the church choir in which Ashley and I sing took on Vivaldi's Gloria under the direction of Music Director Dr. James Douthit and Organist Dr. Bruce Frank.  It was wonderful! A few weeks ago, James asked if I would arrange the hymns that would be included as part of the service along with the Vivaldi.  We were very fortunate to have a chamber orchestra (strings, oboe, trumpet, organ) to accompany the Vivaldi, and without special arrangements, the instrumentalists would not have music to play during the hymns.

It was so much fun to work with these three wonderful hymns: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus, and Jesus Comes With Clouds Descending.

I had a blast, and the sound of organ, choir, strings, trumpet, oboe and congregational singing was magnificent!  If you are interested in these arrangements (there are still two Sundays left in Advent!), I have included links to the scores below.  Contact me if you are interested in purchasing the scores and parts.  I would be happy to customize these for slightly different instrumentations, if needed.  Recordings will be forthcoming.

PDF Scores

• O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
• Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus
• Jesus Comes With Clouds Descending

Thanksgiving

As Thanksgiving approaches, I'm happy to report that my new wind ensemble consortium piece for winds and film is nearly complete!  The music is essentially done, there is just a bit of editing and orchestration left to do.  I'm very excited about the piece and looking forward to getting the music and film out to consortium members in January. The past few days I have been working on a new project - arranging a few Advent hymns!  I love Advent!  The church choir I am singing in will be singing Vivaldi's Gloria on December 9th, with strings and organ.  The Director asked if I would arrange the 3 hymns for the service for strings, organ, oboe, and trumpet (and congregational singing of course).   I'm having a great time with this - and I have the opportunity to work with some wonderful hymns (and wonderful musicians!).

I have been working on Jesus Comes with Clouds Descending which is quickly becoming one of my favorite hymns.   It is a soaring, powerful melody, and it doesn't hurt that the harmony is written by Ralph Vaughan Williams.  I've had the tune stuck in my head for about a week, and I think I could listen to this all day.  Among many, many other things, I'm thankful for this powerful and transformational music we have.

"Goodnight, Goodnight" Performance Today - Arkansas Music Educators Association

The Hot Springs Concert Band will be performing Goodnight, Goodnight this evening at 7:00pm at the Arkansas Music Educators Association Fall Professional Development Conference in Hot Springs, AR.  You can see a full program of the conference here.  Thank you to Dr. Craig Hamilton and the Hot Springs Concert Band for including my work in their performance!

Recent and Upcoming Performances

I feel very fortunate that works of mine are being performed throughout the country this month.  Here are some bullets to summarize:

• On October 7th, the Illinois State University Symphonic Band, conducted by Dan Belongia, performed Goodnight, Goodnight.
• This past Sunday, October 14th marked the premiere performance of Filled with His Voice by the Bethel College Concert Choir, conducted by William Eash.
• Last night, October 16th, Lauda was performed by the Texas Christian University Wind Symphony, conducted by Bobby Francis.
• Tomorrow night, October 18th, Distant Moons will be performed by the University of Connecticut Wind Ensemble, conducted by Jeffrey Renshaw.
• This Sunday I will be in Hot Springs, Arkansas for a performance of Goodnight, Goodnight by the Hot Springs Concert Band, conducted by Craig Hamilton.
• On November 30th, Lauda will be performed by the Bob Jones University Symphony Wind Band conducted by Dan Turner.

Thank you to all these wonderful ensembles and conductors for performing my work!

"Filled With His Voice" Premieres Tomorrow at Bethel College!

My newest work for choir, Filled with His Voice, premieres tomorrow at Bethel College in Newton, Kansas! The work, scored for SATB choir, alto saxophone, and piano was commissioned by Dr. William Eash and the Bethel College Choir.   You can read the beautiful text I worked with here.  Thank you to Dr. Eash for helping to bring this work to life, and best wishes to him and the choir for a great performance tomorrow!

A Wonderful Consortium Group!

It has been a few weeks since I last posted here - things have been busy! I have been working hard on the new piece for winds and film, and the consortium has been growing! We now have a wonderful group of 22 schools signed up (see the list here)!  Thank you to those supporters who are making this exciting project possible!  There are still a few spots left if you or someone you know is interested.

Check out more details here.

New Work for Soprano and Wind Octet - "Alcott Songs"

I really enjoy the poetry of Louisa May Alcott, and I decided to create a song cycle comprised of six of her relatively short poems. I tried to pull together poems that are particularly fun, witty, and whimsical.  As I began choosing these texts, I realized that it would be fun to organize them in a way that could depict a summer day: the first poem opens with “Awake! Awake!”  The second talks about jumping among lily pads, the third describes spring flowers, and the fourth portrays a squirrel and his acorn adventures.  The fifth seems to be about bees or another animal in a sort of dream-like story – I picture this as the point at which we dose off to sleep.  The sixth and final poem is a lovely lullaby which brings the day to an end.  Musically, I tried to create melodies and textures that mirror the fun and wit of the poetry.  There is a variety of music, from very light spring-like dancing in the opening song, to the quiet and delicate lullaby at the end.

Commissioned by the following musicians and institutions:

Dr. Brenton F. Alston – Florida International University Dr. Daniel Belongia – Illinois State University Dr. Justin Davis – Greatbatch School of Music, Houghton College Mr. Duane Hill – Texas Tech University Dr. John Oelrich – University of Tennessee at Martin Dr. David Ragsdale – University of Alabama Huntsville Dr. Catherine Rand – University of Southern Mississippi Dr. Jason Rinehart & Dr. Claire Vangelisti – University of Louisiana at Monroe Dr. Mark Scatterday – Eastman School of Music Mr. Timothy Shade – University of Miami Dr. Mark Walker – Troy University

Read more about the work here.

Goodnight, Goodnight for Band - Winner of the 2012 Hot Springs Concert Band Music Composition Award

I'm excited to announce that my work Goodnight, Goodnight for band has been named the winner of the 2012 Music Composition Award by the Hot Springs Concert Band in Hot Springs, AR.   This wonderful ensemble will perform Goodnight, Goodnight on Sunday October 21st at 3:oopm and I will be in attendance! Who: Hot Springs Concert Band performs Goodnight, Goodnight When: October 21st, 3:00pm Where: Woodlands Auditorium, Hot Springs Village, AR

Joy

There is so much joy here - beautiful to watch.