Chamber Music Publications
Compositions and Arrangements for Solo Instruments and Mixed Chamber Groups
Only Wind for Flute Sextet
Only Wind was commissioned by the flute section of the “President’s Own” United States Marine Band. While composing this piece, I became fascinated by Inuit throat singing. Often practiced by sisters or best friends, it is a kind of friendly competition between two singers. While I did not attempt to capture the timbre or rhythm of that music in this piece, I was nevertheless inspired by its energy and its fast paced, back and forth quality. Only Wind consists of two parts: a meditative, aleatoric introduction, and an exciting, rhythmically driven section loosely following the classic four-strain formal structure of ragtime.
B4B for flute and piano
B4B was commissioned by Dr. Bradley Garner, Professor of Flute at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. A multi-sectioned, single-movement composition, B4B draws on elements from the jazz and blues traditions to create a virtuosic work for both the flutist and the pianist. Listen on YouTube.
klang for flute, clarinet, and piano (opt. glockenspiel and vibraphone)
klang was originally composed in 2000 for a performance in Japan. It has since been revised several times into its current form. The glockenspiel and vibraphone parts, while optional, add greatly to the feeling of the composition. It is inspired by a modified version of the Westminster Chimes. The texture alternates between serene, flowing passages, mysteriously lyrical solos, and chimes.
Vexation Day: Or, What if Erik Satie were Bill Murray in Groundhog Day? for electric bass and two loopers
Commissioned by Dr. Drew Waters, this composition draws inspiration from Satie's A Day In The Life Of A Musician as well as the bass line from his Vexations. It occurred to me that Satie would probably enjoy being in Bill Murray's shoes. Available here soon.
The Noise I Just Made for solo soprano saxophone
This work was inspired by a form of Persian verse called ruba'i. In the English translations, the rhyme scheme is AABA. In this piece, I interpret a rhyme to mean "matching musical motive." I adopted a cyclical method of connecting the stanzas together making the unrhymed motive of the current phrase the rhymed motive of the following phrase. Furthermore, each instance of the motive is a development of the previous instance. For example, AA'BA'' B'CB''B''' C'DC''C''' D'A'''D''D'''. The piece has the quality of a spontaneously composed piece while still adhering to a rigid structure. Available here soon.