The Sparrows for tenor and chamber orchestra

Realizing he has unlimited potential, the innocent fool begins his journey looking upward towards the sky, unknowingly embarking on a boundless adventure.

Performed on March 22, 2014
Djamel Mami, saxophone
Chuck Dillard, piano

Ella Prakash Abstract Figures 1 (artwork)

Sacred Spaces — II. The Fool for alto sax and piano

Afterglow (2020)

Commissioned by Kristin Wolfe Jensen and the UT-Austin Bassoon Studio
Recorded by the UT-Austin Bassoon Studio
Conducted by Farkhad Khudyev

Afterglow for bassoon ensemble

Nightlife (2011) for soprano saxophone and piano

Recorded by Lauren Wagner and Svetlana Kotova.

Nightlife for soprano sax and piano

"The Sparrows" - I. A Song

Text by Geoffrey Nutter

We awoke beside each other—
two bulbs in the golden soil after rain—
two small people, as in the grave—
Everything to be prepared
had been prepared for us:
sunlight spread across the quarries of the Earth.
It was New Year’s Day, but not for long.
We heard a song once, long ago,
that sang about living in two worlds,
in one we were living in imaginary cities far apart,
but in another we were everywhere at once.
And it seems that song began
at the end of day, and ended
at the beginning of the next.
at’s how we have known two worlds—
and though once buried in the ground
for an era, a lifetime
we have changed as into nymphs
of the very sea that live among the solitudes
where their meaning and its plainness shine,
then disappear.
Like the bare golden earth in the sunlight after rain
you are secretive, but always come around
to telling me your secrets.

Composed in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Music degree in Composition (2017) at the University of Michigan. World premiere April 11, 2022 by The University of Texas New Music Ensemble conducted by Ryan S. Kelly.

The Sparrows - I. A Song

The Sparrows - II. Our Star

Text by Geoffrey Nutter

I was asked to put someone in my poem, anyone,
so long as it was you. So I did, and chose you.
In all the brambles, stones, and broken tiles,
we noticed, even now, in brightness,
the sky was full of stars, but our star
dominated all, so that we
were visible, if only to each other.

Composed in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Music degree in Composition (2017) at the University of Michigan. World premiere April 11, 2022 by The University of Texas New Music Ensemble conducted by Ryan S. Kelly.

The Sparrows - III. An Invitation

In the Primal Garden for high voice and piano
I. Planting Tulips

Text by Neil Aitken

Before my father dies 
I should like to dig once more 
in the back garden behind the old home 
where I spent so many summers, 
striking a rhythm with dirt clods breaking  
against a shovel’s blade, pressed firm to the earth.
Should like to cradle each bulb in my stained hands, 
as if to bless it before burial, or to peer into its opaque skin,  
wondering at the rough beauty of unseen roots,
then tamp down a small mound and pray for rain  
and wait for the slow green signs of birth.

Performed by Jason Weisinger and Chuck Dillard

Planting Tulips for high voice and piano

In the Primal Garden for high voice and piano
II. In the Primal Garden

Text by Geoffrey Nutter

Nevertheless, the cardinals practice  
their speech above the Saugerties,  
the white elms listen. 
Cranes come down from 
the gables, rare and wet 
as cresses washed by rain 
in the primal garden. 
So you wandered there 
with the wild birds 
your breasts like yellow plums  
your whole hair-raising childhood,  
and listened to them sing for you:   
A dark blue one for 
the Past. One speckled 
brown and green for the Present.  
A sky-blue one for the Future.

Performed by Jason Weisinger and Chuck Dillard

In the Primal Garden for high voice and piano

Performed by the Arcturus Quintet

Commissioned by 45th Parallel Universe under the aegis of the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music Alumni Support Initiative.

Sexxtet for wind quintet and piano

Commissioned by the New Music on the Point Contemporary Chamber Music Festival

To a Stranger by Walt Whitman

Passing stranger! you do not know how longingly I look upon you,
You must be he I was seeking, or she I was seeking, (it comes to me, as of a dream,)
I have somewhere surely lived a life of joy with you,
All is recall’d as we flit by each other, fluid, affectionate, chaste, matured,
You grew up with me, were a boy with me, or a girl with me,
I ate with you, and slept with you—your body has become not yours only, nor left my body mine only,
You give me the pleasure of your eyes, face, flesh, as we pass—you take of my beard, breast, hands, in return, I am not to speak to you—I am to think of you when I sit alone, or wake at night alone,
I am to wait—I do not doubt I am to meet you again,
I am to see to it that I do not lose you.

World premiere and recording:
Jason Weisinger, Ian Jose Ramirez, Stephanie Patterson, and Richard Valitutto
June 15, 2013; University of Burlington; New Music on the Point Contemporary Chamber Music Festival

To a Stranger (Whitman) for high voice, bassoon, and piano

Faces for high voice, bassoon, and piano

Commissioned by the New Music on the Point Contemporary Chamber Music Festival

Faces by Sara Teasdale
People that I meet and pass 
In the city's broken roar, 
Faces that I lose so soon
And have never found before,

Do you know how much you tell
In the meeting of our eyes,
How ashamed I am, and sad
To have pierced your poor disguise?

Secrets rushing without sound 
Crying from your hiding places — 
Let me go, I cannot bear
The sorrow of the passing faces.

— People in the restless street, 
Can it be, oh can it be
In the meeting of our eyes
That you know as much of me?

World premiere and recording:
Jason Weisinger, Ian Jose Ramirez, Stephanie Patterson, and Richard Valitutto
June 15, 2013; University of Burlington; New Music on the Point Contemporary Chamber Music Festival

Faces (Teasdale) for high voice, bassoon, and piano

Faces for high voice, bassoon, and piano

Commissioned by the New Music on the Point Contemporary Chamber Music Festival

A Face Devoid of Love or Grace by Emily Dickinson

A face devoid of love or grace,
A hateful, hard, successful face,
A face with which a stone
Would feel as thoroughly at ease 
As were they old acquaintances— 
First time together thrown.

World premiere and recording:
Jason Weisinger, Ian Jose Ramirez, Stephanie Patterson, and Richard Valitutto
June 15, 2013; University of Burlington; New Music on the Point Contemporary Chamber Music Festival

A Face Devoid of Love or Grace (Dickinson) for high voice, bassoon, and piano

Divine Intervention for horn, harp, and string quartet

Ben Stonaker, Conductor
Reese Farnell, Horn
Emily Melendes, Harp
Kyoung-Joo Sung, Violin
Kelsey Craggett, Violin
Alejandro Duque, Viola
James Burch, Cello

Divine Intervention for horn, harp, and string quartet

Epitaph for a Darling Lady for high voice, clarinet, and piano

5/6/11 Senior Recital

Rhapsody for piano

Composed for the Trade Winds Quintet

I. Invocation
II. Surfaces
III. Sentinels
IV. Champions

Recorded by:
Merryl Monard, Flute
Alex Hayashi, Oboe
Clarissa Osborn, Clarinet
Caroline Steiger, Horn
Brandon Rumsey, Bassoon
Nelson Gast

Emblems for woodwind quintet

Performed by the University of Texas Symphony Band
Conducted by Dr. Ryan Kelly.
Recorded on April 4, 2018

Wanderlust for wind ensemble

Recorded by Jeffrey Lyman and Matthew Thompson
To purchase scores, visit: https://brandonscottrumsey.com/store/

Silhouettes for bassoon and piano

Performed by the UT New Music Ensemble
Ben Stonaker, conductor

Spellbound for sinfonietta

After returning from isolation, the solemn hermit is ready to share his knowledge. However, his insights are reserved only for those who are willing to climb great heights to obtain them.

Performed March 22, 2014
Djamel Mami, saxophone
Chuck Dillard, piano

Ella Prakash Abstract Figures 1 (artwork)

Sacred Spaces — I. The Hermit for alto sax and piano

Text by Noelle Kocot
Commissioned by the Music in Bloom Festival
Amy Petrongelli, Soprano
Chris Seis, Percussion
Nick Zoulek, Bass Saxophone
Clare Longendyke, Piano
Jani Parsons, Piano

Bran (they/them)

Pinned to spotlight

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