Alcott Songs - New Work for Soprano & Piano

I am currently finishing up a new song cycle for soprano and piano titled Alcott Songs. The piece sets six short poems of Louisa May Alcott, most of which are very whimsical and fun.  Much of Alcott's poetry is about nature - flowers, birds, etc.  After spending some time reading through much of her work, I chose six poems that I thought would work best for this piece.  I also ordered them in a way that I thought could communicate a summer's day; the first poem begins with "Awake! Awake!" and the last poem is titled "Lullaby."  In between there are short tales of sunrise, flowers, lily pads, acorns, and finally sunset and sleep.

I am having a lot of fun with the poems and trying to write music that is as whimsical and fun as these poems are.   You can read the texts here.

More soon!

Obsidian Quartet Recording of "Saxophone Quartet No. 2"

In March I had the privilege of visiting and working with the saxophonists in Dr. Paul Nolen's fantastic saxophone studio at Illinois State University.  Here is a beautiful performance they gave in studio class of my Saxophone Quartet No. 2. Enjoy!

Saxophone Quartet No. 2 - Performance Today

This afternoon at 4:30pm, the University of Central Florida Saxophone Quartet will perform my Saxophone Quartet No. 2 at the North American Saxophone Alliance Region 6 conference in Orlando, FL.  The full schedule for the conference is available here. Thanks to Dr. George Weremchuk and the UCF Saxophone Quartet for programming this work!

A/B Duo to Perform Marimba/Flute Piece on Tour

The A/B duo, a collaboration between flutist Meerenai Shim and percussionist Chris Jones, is presenting a three-performance Southern tour February 15-18.  They will be including my piece, Hers Was a Beautiful Soul for marimba and flute on their programs.  You can find out more about the A/B duo and their tour here.

February 15, 2013 Jacksonville, FL University of North Florida

February 17, 2013 Atlanta, GA Poem 88 with Chamber Cartel

February 18, 2013 Columbus, GA RiverCenter for the Performing Arts

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.

New Commission - Choir, Saxophone & Piano

I'm excited to announce a new commission which has just been finalized and that I am writing this summer.  Dr. William Eash and the Bethel College Choir are commissioning  a new piece for choir, saxophone, and piano!  I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Dr. Eash and the Bethel Choir, and also to include saxophone (near and dear to my heart!) in this piece.  The text we decided on is below.  I have been thinking about ideas for the piece for a few weeks and have a good idea of the general structure and to some extent the roles of the various forces (men, women, saxophone, piano).  Yesterday I got to spend a bit of time working on the piece in one of my favorite spots - the basement of the Eastman annex building! Stay tuned for more details about this piece! O thou, in whose presence

O thou, in whose presence my soul takes delight, on whom in affliction I call, my comfort by day, and my song in the night, my hope, my salvation, my all;

Where dost thou, dear Shepherd, resort with thy sheep? to feed in the pastures of love? Say, why in the valley of death should I weep, or lone in the wilderness rove?

Oh, why should I wander an alien from thee, or cry in the desert for bread? Thy foes will rejoice when my sorrows they see, and smile at the tears I have shed.

He looks, and ten thou-sands of angels rejoice, and myriads wait for his word. He speaks, and eternity filled with his voice, reechoes the praise of the Lord.

Spirituals: A Lecture Recital

Monday evening Ashley and I presented a lecture recital on Spirituals. We discussed and performed Go Down Moses, Deep River, and Wade in the Water.  We talked a bit about the history of the Spiritual, and tried to present the context of what was happening at the time of their development.  We also talked about possible deeper meanings within the works - of course on the surface Spirituals appear to be songs based on biblical stories, but it seems plausible that they also had meaning related to the underground railroad and the Slaves' journey for freedom.

We transcribed the Harry T. Burleigh arrangements (voice & piano) for saxophone and piano and had a great time working on these songs.  There is so much depth and beauty in these works, and so much to consider in terms of the texts, the music, and how they complement each other.  Hopefully I will have a video clip to post soon.  In the meantime, enjoy a recording of your favorite Spiritual today and be appreciative for these wonderful songs!

First Peek at the 2012 Westminster Chamber Music Workshop!

As many of you know, last year my wife and I started the Westminster Chamber Music Workshop - a series of free community music events.  We just posted a sneak peek of the 2012 WCMW over at the WCMW blog here.  Be sure to hold the following dates - we have some free events you will NOT WANT TO MISS!

• Saturday May 5, 2012 - 7:00pm
• Saturday May 12, 2012 - 7:00pm
• Saturday May 19, 2012 - 7:00pm
• Saturday May 26, 2012 - 7:00pm

All events will be held at the First Congregational Church of Westminster, MA.  Save the dates, and join us for the 2012 WCMW! More details coming soon...

New! Nocturne IV for Sax Quartet and Flute Ensemble

Tomorrow I'm shipping off a score and parts to the University of Central Florida for "Nocturne IV" scored for saxophone quartet and flute ensemble (6 flutes, 2 altos, 2 basses, 1 piccolo). The work was commissioned by the University of Central Florida, at the request of  saxophone professor George Weremchuk.

The piece builds off of the fourth movement of my solo piano work "Nocturnes."  It was a fun and challenging task to write for this unique instrumentation, and I'm looking forward to hearing the result.  Of course, the challenge when writing for a group like this is to effectively balance the saxophones and flutes - to write in a way that sounds like a unified group of winds rather than a separated group of saxophones and flutes.  And while the piccolo can certainly overpower just about anything, the saxophone quartet could easily swallow up most of the flutes if not carefully scored.  Hopefully I thought enough about these challenges while writing the piece to make the orchestration effective!

I felt like the material in the solo piano version of Nocturne IV lent itself well to winds.  The mysterious and foreboding opening, with it's quiet intensity would score well for low flutes, all by themselves.  Leaving the saxes out in the beginning of the piece gives the alto and bass flutes a time to shine without competing with the sound of the saxophones.  The saxes certainly do provide the low end throughout, and provide a lot of the driving force that comes with the "grooving" fast section.  This is where I really expanded the piece in this new version - the fast section.  The form of the sax/flute work is essentially a two and a half minute slow section, and a two and a half minute barn-burning fast section at q=138(!).  A tiny bit slower would be fine too, but it really grooves around 138.

Nocturne IV for saxophone quartet and flute ensemble will be premiered at the University of Central Florida, at their annual Central Florida SaxFest on March 31, 2012.