Commissioned by a consortium of performers and educators organized by John Kilkenny and Daniel Heagney, "Songs of the Human Spirit" is grouped into three sections of five solos each — Marimba+Marimba, Vibraphone+Vibraphone, and Vibraphone+Marimba. Each solo ranges in duration from 2 to 3 minutes and utilizes two or four mallets or, in the case of the vibraphone duet “Loneliness,” a bass bow plus two mallets. Instead of attempting to create a sequential etude book, I aimed to provide a varied musical experience from solo to solo, exploring different techniques (percussive & compositional), moods/emotions, and ensemble challenges.

To give even more cohesiveness to the collection, I added titles to each solo, taken from the brilliant collection of essays “Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words” by David Whyte. I encourage you to pick up this book and absorb his poetic thoughts, if only to reflect on what it is to be human.

Songs of the Human Spirit: 15 Intermediate Duets for Keyboard Percussion

Nathan Daughtrey

percussion/band stuff

Live performance by Eastman Percussion Ensemble: Sarah Persichetti, Sam Um, Emily Park, Max Kanowitz, Jarryd Elias, & Sean Lowery.

Catching Shadows - Percussion Sextet

Commissioned by Ned Smith and the Coventry High School Band, "Black Rainbow" was inspired by the idea of a moonbow – a rainbow produced by light reflected off the surface of the moon (rather than from direct sunlight) refracting off of moisture in the air. The full spectrum of colors are present, but it is difficult for the human eye to detect them. I liked the idea of such beauty being there under the surface, but not immediately recognizable. The work takes the listener on a journey through each of the seven colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet), each with their own energy.

Black Rainbow (for 6 solo percussion & piano)

Besieged (from 'Songs of the Human Spirit') - Nathan Daughtrey

Ambition (from 'Songs of the Human Spirit') - Nathan Daughtrey

Crisis (from 'Songs of the Human Spirit') - Nathan Daughtrey

Longing (from 'Songs of the Human Spirit') - Nathan Daughtrey

Regret (from 'Songs of the Human Spirit') - Nathan Daughtrey

Unrequited (from 'Songs of the Human Spirit') - Nathan Daughtrey

Joy (from 'Songs of the Human Spirit') - Nathan Daughtrey

"Burn" was commissioned by Robert Faub for performance at the 2016 North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Conference at Texas Tech University (Lubbock, TX). The idea for the piece simply came from the title and the myriad of ways a fire can burn. What results is a perpetual motion tour-de-force work for both players.

Spark | Ignite | Dance | Scorch | Smolder | Incinerate | Extinguish

Burn (live recording) - Nathan Daughtrey

Commissioned by Gabe Musella and the Spring High School Wind Ensemble for performance at the 2016 Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, "Twitch" is a tour-de-force for solo B-flat clarinet and band. A clarinet quartet (3 Bb soprano & 1 bass clarinet) from the ensemble accompanies the soloist at several moments throughout the piece.

Twitch (solo clarinet & wind ensemble) - Nathan Daughtrey

Originally composed for marimba & piano duo, "Almost Beyond" has now been fleshed out for percussion ensemble.

Instrumentation
Bells & Crotales
Vibraphone 1
Vibraphone 2
Chimes & Xylophone
Marimba 1 (4.3-octave)
Marimba 2 (5-octave)
Timpani (4 drums)
Optional Percussion 1 (suspended cymbal, wind chimes)
Optional Percussion 2 (bass drum, tam-tam)

Almost Beyond (percussion ensemble 7-9)- Nathan Daughtrey

Mercury Rising for Percussion Ensemble

Shock Factor for Percussion Quintet

An Extraordinary Correspondence (for flute & marimba)

Nathan Daughtrey with the James Madison University Percussion Ensemble, Michael Overman, conducting.  Commissioned by Dr. Lisa Rogers (percussion professor at Texas Tech University), the first movement of the Concerto for Vibraphone and Percussion Ensemble received its premiere in November 2009 at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) in Indianapolis by Lisa Rogers and the Brazoswood High School Percussion Ensemble, directed by Eric Harper. It will be premiered in its entirety at the International Society for Music Education (ISME) Conference in Beijing, China in August 2010 by the Texas Tech University Percussion Ensemble, directed by Allan Shin, with Dr. Lisa Rogers as the vibraphone soloist. 
Notes: 
One of my favorite sources of inspiration for my compositions is poetry – especially that of Pablo Neruda. It's so passionate and filled with vivid imagery that it's just a blast to try and portray his words with music. I knew from the outset that Lisa Rogers (the commissioning party) wanted a 2-movement concerto, so I decided to try and find two poems with opposing themes and stumbled upon Neruda's collection "Ode to Opposites." I chose "Ode to Nighttime" and "Ode to Enchanted Light" which pit night against day.  For the first movement, Night’s Song, I tried to depict this mysterious, starry night that gradually turns dark and rainy. The phrases that really spoke to me and shaped the music were “behind daylight,” “you thrash around the sky,” “you run wild over the savage flow of rivers,” and rain and darkness are the blade of a singing sword while stars, or jasmine petals, gaze from blackened heights.” I love how Neruda describes daylight as being born nighttime, so I decided to make the movements attacca so that the second movement, Enchanted Light, bursts forth out of the first movement.  The second movement is much more sparkly and bright, depicting the “light dropping from the top of the sky.” The “cicada sending its sawing song high into the empty air” even makes an appearance when the ensemble vibraphone player places pennies on the bars and then bows those bars with optional help from a sizzle cymbal. Motives and themes from the first movement return in several spots throughout the second movement helping to unify the work. The soloist gets a workout as well in the tour-de-force second movement, unlike the much more introspective first movement.

Concerto for Vibraphone and Percussion Ensemble

Percussionist, composer, & educator Nathan Daughtrey (b. 1975) is a musical chameleon who uses his wide-ranging talents to adapt comfortably to a variety of environments. As a performing artist and clinician for Yamaha percussion, Vic Firth sticks & mallets, Zildjian cymbals, and Black Swamp accessories, he has performed and given masterclasses and clinics throughout the United States and across three continents. Nathan has recorded two solo marimba albums to date – "Spiral Passages" and "The Yuletide Marimba" – as well as several chamber music albums, including a recent collaboration with euphoniumist Brian Meixner titled "Praxis."

With over 60 publications for percussion ensemble, concert band, orchestra, chamber ensembles, and soloists as well as an ever-growing number of commissions, Nathan balances his performing with composing, and to great acclaim. He is the only composer in the history of the Percussive Arts Society International Composition Contest to procure both 2nd and 3rd place in the same year with his percussion ensemble works "Limerick Daydreams" and "Adaptation," respectively. Nathan's compositions appear regularly on performances at PASIC, the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, the Bands of America National Percussion Festival, and in concert halls and other performance venues around the world. His works have also been recorded on several albums by respected performers, including the FSU Percussion Ensemble, the Showa Wind Symphony conducted by Ray Cramer, the RoseWind Duo, and Mississippi State University. Additionally, three of his compositions for wind ensemble have been featured in three volumes of "Teaching Music Through Performance in Band."

As an educator, Nathan served as a Visiting Lecturer of Percussion for three years at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he taught applied percussion and conducted the Percussion Ensemble. He also served as a sabbatical replacement at the University of Oklahoma, where he taught undergraduate and graduate percussion students and conducted the world-renowned OU Percussion Orchestra. Dr. Daughtrey is currently a Visiting Lecturer of Percussion and Music Composition at High Point University (NC), where he teaches applied lessons, directs the percussion ensemble and works in collaboration with the School of Communication and Department of Dance.

Nathan remains active within the Percussive Arts Society serving as a member of the Composition Contest Committee, organizing the PASIC Fun Runs on behalf of the Health and Wellness Committee, and editing the keyboard percussion articles for Percussive Notes.