playing this piece on the 22nd!  I hope ;)

@anthony-otoole: Such great sounds, and it's all so masterfully orchestrated!! Bravo sir!

Next Generation

This was a composition written in 2005 and dedicated to the Air Force's Pararescue Jumpers - "PJs." It features 4 sections: 
1. Hymn
2. Flight
3. Off to War
4. Reflection & Remembrance

This performance was from the CD "War & Remembrance" by the USAF Band of the Golden West, Travis AFB, CA. 

PROGRAM NOTES:
THAT OTHERS MAY LIVE is a tribute to the Pararescuemen (“PJs”: short for “Pararescue Jumpers”) of the United States Air Force. They are the only members of the DoD specifically organized, trained, and equipped to conduct personnel recovery operations in hostile or denied areas as a primary mission. PJs are also used to support NASA missions and have been used to recover astronauts after water landings. They provide a selfless service to their fellow troops in all branches of the US military, as well as to civilians in danger. Their motto "That Others May Live" reaffirms the PJ's commitment to saving lives and self-sacrifice. Without them, thousands of service members and civilians would have been unnecessarily lost in past conflicts and natural disasters.

Of particular inspiration during the composition of this work was Senior Airman Jason D. Cunningham. SrA Cunningham was killed in Afghanistan on March 4, 2002 while saving 10 lives and making it possible for seven others who had been killed to come home. He was posthumously awarded the Air Force Cross on September 13, 2002; a poem written by his brother-in-law Jared Marquis expresses the selfless sacrifice of SrA Cunningham and all other PJs:

Please Don't stand and Weep  
Those men I had to save  
Not because of Courage  
or because I'm Brave

Not because of Orders,  
or because it was my Dream  
I did it for my Brothers 
I did it for the Team

So Please Don't weep for me 
for all I had to give;
I did it for a reason  
"So That Others May Live"

That Others May Live - (Concert Band)

Dennis Hoffmann, Steel Drums, Bottles, Kick Drum
Shawn Galvin, Vibraphone, Kick Drum 
Learn more about Missy Mazzoli here: missymazzoli.com

Volume - Missy Mazzoli

The name in itself is somewhat of an oxymoron. It's a kind of medieval dance that's traditionally faster and more upbeat, but slowed down to a relaxing tempo. It's dumb, hope you enjoy.

Saltarello Rilassato

Mighty Have Fallen  FULL

Mechanika

Shine Like The Sun

Live recording from the world premiere of Lesions (2017) for clarinet, French horn and cello.
Performers: Paul Dean (clarinet), Peter Luff (horn), Trish O'Brien (cello)
Conservatorium Theatre, Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University
November 12, 2017 

Program notes:
Lesions was commissioned by Paul Dean for Ensemble Q and was written for Paul Dean, Trish O’Brien and Peter Luff.
The term “lesions” refers to regions in organs and tissue which have suffered damage through injury or disease, such as a wound, ulcer, abscess or tumour. I first heard this term in 2004, when my mother (age 42 at that time) was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Multiple Sclerosis. While she had suffered from many disturbing, unexplainable and painful symptoms for sixteen years prior to that, the diagnosis of MS did not bring us any relief or closure.

Virtually every family has a loved one who is suffering or suffered from an incurable illness. While this is a very heavy subject, I believe it is definitely worth talking about, for two simple reasons:

1.	To show those who are affected that they are not alone and that there are millions of people in the world who are going through similar struggles;
2.	To remind those lucky few who have not been affected that we have to keep looking for cures every day.

Lesions is written in four parts that represent four most common stages of dealing with incurable illness: Sadness, Anxiety, Denial and finally Acceptance. The absence of a pause between the last two movements has an extra-musical meaning: though denial and acceptance are antithetical states of mind, many patients find themselves stuck between these two for a long time, sometimes for the rest of their lives. The new reality is too difficult to accept, yet the symptoms are just as difficult to deny.

On this photo: my mum holding me, about 2 years before MS came into our lives...

Lesions (2017) for clarinet, horn and cello

"Time Travels: Caprice for Band" 
Composed by Robert Thurston 
Recorded by The U.S. Air Force Band, Col. Larry H. Lang, Cond. 
Hylton Performing Arts Center, Manassas, VA 

Dedicated to the memory of Dr. James E. Croft

I composed "Time Travels" to highlight the virtuosity of my brilliant musical colleagues in The United States Air Force Band, the premiere band of the U.S. Air Force. The piece has no underlying programmatic idea or structure; it is a caprice, moving freely (almost improvisationally) from one idea to the next — wherever my ear happened to lead me each day over the course of about six weeks. 

As I was completing "Time Travels" in early September 2012, I was saddened to learn of the death of Dr. James Croft, one of my teachers and mentors at Florida State University. It was at Dr. Croft's urging that I auditioned as an arranger for the Air Force Band in 1993 — a life-altering decision that still reminds me of Jim Croft as someone who cared about his students long after they graduated, who instinctively understood their gifts, and who never stopped trying to help them find their place in the world. 

"Time Travels" is gratefully dedicated to his memory. 

"Time Travels" was premiered by The U.S. Air Force Band at The Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference in Chicago, IL, on Dec. 19, 2012, under the baton of Commander and Conductor Col. Larry H. Lang. 

Time Travels: Caprice for Band (2012)

I compose and arrange music, mostly for concert band. My work is published by Excelcia, Carl Fischer, and Pro Jazz Charts. I'm the former chief composer-arranger for The US Air Force Band in Washington DC, having served from 1994 to 2014.

Time Travels: Caprice for Band (2012)

ItsOnlyBob

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