New Irish Stew is a graphic score written in early 2016 and premiered in April of the same year. The piece is written for three indeterminate musicians and two narrators. 

The score is written in a literal circle with no beginning or ending given. It is up to the performers to decide where to start, when to end, what tempo, and if they wish, when to improvise.

Surrounding the music is a slew of cherry picked quotes from James Joyce's Finnegans Wake. The narrators can either be cued by the outer, melodic line, or free to choose when to quote each line. The other voices heard besides the two narrators are audience members who were given specific quotes and told to say them whenever they wanted.

The premiere was performed at the University of Northern Colorado by guitarist Conner Shaw, marimbist Breana Meyers, bassist Ben Hornacek, and narration by Joe Darpino and Cathy Verbyla.

New Irish Stew

unrequited was composed in the latter half of 2015 under a different name. It is for solo five octave marimba and is the first of two planned movements.

The premiere of the work was performed at the University of Northern Colorado in April of 2016 by Breana Meyers.

unrequited

Sand Molding was composed in late 2015 and premiered at the University of Northern Colorado in April of 2016. The premiere performance was by Jeff Perry and Breana Meyers.

Sand Molding explores the process of, well, using sand to mold iron and steel. Throughout the composition, the sounds of metal overtake the sounds of wood as the natural becomes the artificial. 

The piece is written in seven sections that repeat in one large arc. Each section continues to become more aleatoric until the mid point is reached before the piece wraps back to the beginning.

Sand Molding

Written in 2014, The Fall only recently was premiered in April of 2016.

The Fall is written for a women's choir in four parts (divisi, eight lines) and utilizes and old Scottish Gaelic poem.

As the rain hides the stars,
as the autumn mist 
hides the hills,
as the clouds veil
the blue of the sky, so
the dark happenings of my lot
hide the shining of thy face from me.
Yet, if I may hold thy hand in the darkness,
it is enough, since I know,
that though I may stubmle in my going,
Thou dost not fall.

The Fall

Toward Eternity was composed in the fall of 2015 and is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Dale Dykins, who taught at the University of Northern Colorado for over thirty years. The piece was premiered in November of 2015 at the Currier Inn in Greeley, CO by Jordan Ortman. This recording is from April of 2016, Jordan Ortman.

Toward Eternity is a journey through death. Inspired by Emily Dickinson's famous poem Because I could not stop for Death. The piece goes through the emotions of acceptance of death from the departed. From the fear of the unknown, to the nostalgic pull of past memories, finally to acceptance.

Toward Eternity

Soliloquy was written for solo viola and electronics in the Spring of 2015. It was premiered on viola at the call for scores winners concert at the 2016 Open Space Festival of New Music in Greeley, CO. It is dedicated to my good friend Abi Evans and all of her help in creating it.

For this performance, it was adapted for cello and electronics and performed by Brett Andrews. Both versions are available.

The idea for the piece came from thinking of how to blend a string instrument with electronic playback. My solution was to record a viola and put the recordings through filters, samplers and oscillators. Midway through is a repurposed old vinyl recording of a viola concerto that I also manipulate through an oscillator. The hope was to make a more organic connection between the playback and the soloist.

Soliloquy

The Reisher Fanfare was composed in late 2014 and early 2015. It was premiered at the University of Northern Colorado in April of 2015.

Written as a thank you for the generous three years of funding I received through the Reisher Scholarship at UNC, the Reisher Fanfare came to be after the passing of Roger Reisher in 2014.

The piece is scored for double sextet: A woodwind sextet of two flutes, two clarinets, an oboe, and a bassoon; and a brass sextet of two trumpets, two horns, a trombone, and a bass trombone.

Reisher Fanfare

Intimate Strangers was written in the Spring of 2014 and premiered in May of 2014, performed by James Dever.

The piece is written for a large multi-percussion set up featuring a vibraphone facing away from the performer, scratched tambourine, a wine bottle, bass drum edges, and various other standard percussion instruments.

Intimate Strangers is about the struggles of abuse and mental illness and the cognitive dissonance of someone very close being, at the same time, very distant and disconnected.

Intimate Strangers

Raucousy was written in 2014 and premiered at the University of Northern Colorado in April of 2015 by the Majority Percussion quartet: Mario Alvarado, Joe Darpino, Cara Givan, and Tyler Vandermeer.

Born from a very common phrase from our dear professor, Gray Barrier (who himself learned it from Cloyd Duff), Raucousy is about bringing the edge out with percussion, which wasn't much of a challenge. The challenge comes from adapting from various different styles.

The piece moves through three distinct phases, each inspired by a different part of percussion music. The beginning is influenced by traditional afro-cuban music and various different claves. Following that is a section loosely based on taiko drumming. The final section is inspired by the solo repertoire of percussion and features a soloistic marimba line while the remaining performers accompany akin to Minoru Miki's Marimba Spiritual.

Each performer is also an embodiment of the world of percussion. One performer for different realms of the medium: an orchestral player, a traditional player, a wind ensemble/band player, and a soloistic player.

Raucousy

B.M. Music Composition and Percussion Performance, University of Northern Colorado, 2016.

Up next:
M.M. Music Composition, Wichita State University, 2018(allegedly).

Minimalism. Impressionism. Aleatory.