New Music for 2013-2014

I am pleased to officially announce several new works currently in production that will be available this summer for concert band & wind ensemble. You can listen to these works on a variety of platforms including SoundCloud, Facebook, and my composition page here.

Sonic Ascent is a beginning band work that uses only the first 6 notes of a B-flat concert scale. It is an energetic concert opener for young musicians that will be available from Barnhouse.

Festival Esprit was written for the OMEA District V Honor Band that I had the pleasure of guest conducting in November of 2012. There are some wonderful people working in that area of the country and their students with whom I worked are a credit to their teaching, their school band, and their community. Something magical happens when like-minded individuals work together in this kind of setting, and I wanted to create a piece that would reflect that communal musical spirit. In production with FJH Music, it is intended for a mid-level band (grade 7/8).

Over my career, I have become very fond of Vaughan Williams. Two pieces in particular are favorites – Flourish for Wind Band and Flourish for Glorious John. Flourishing Noels pays homage to those two great works while incorporating a well-known carol The First Noel. This Holiday work was written for a mid-level band, and will be available from FJH Music.

I am excited to release Dancing Under the Stars with Bandworks Publications. The words of William Purkey inspired the writing of this mid-level band work. It is sincere, quirky, and groovy writing that I hope inspires courage and brings out the joy of playing for your students.

I am a big proponent of American folk songs, and am delighted to release one such setting with Grand Mesa publications. Yankee Fanfare is an energetic and flashy setting of Yankee Doodle that can be valuable for performance in a number of settings. The debut performance was given by the Schulykill County Junior High Honors Band in April of 2012.

Finally, Monsters of Myth… is a work for high school concert band or wind ensemble that explores a unique side of Quasimodo, Sasquatch, and Nessie. What if these monsters have been misunderstood and misrepresented by popular culture? From the opening tolls of “Quasimodo (Bells for a Celebration)” to the heroic ending to “Sasquatch (Last Defender of the Forest)” to an exciting finish in “Nessie (Chase Around the Loch)” there are daring and dramatic moments that abound. The piece was a commissioned work by Greenville High School and their director Mr. Eric Schrader. This piece will be available from FJH Music.

Several of these recordings may already be found on Soundcloud, and I will be adding many of them to the composition page in the coming weeks. I hope that one of these pieces may be a good fit for your students and ensembles, and I thank you for your support.