Shortly before writing this piece I discovered that my mother has the neurological condition Synesthesia, which is when one sensory reaction triggers another. In my mother’s case she sees colors when she hears music. I’ve encountered this specific neurological combination before and have been curious of its affects on the listener. After researching what affects the colors they see, I discovered that each person’s synesthesia was unique, and that often no two listeners with this condition saw the same image. So in this piece I strived to initiate as many colors as possible through changing orchestration, harmony, melody, moods, and utilizing the enormous range of the saxophone ensemble. Colors was written for Zach Shemon and the University of Missouri – Kansas City Saxophone Ensemble in the fall of 2013 and was performed at the 2014 North American Saxophone Alliance Conference in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.

Colors

"Nach Raum und Zeit" is a set of 5 songs for soprano and piano using a diverse set of short German poems from varying eras. The whole set was premiered on 13 February 2014.

Second Place, 2013 Rebecca Sherburn Vocal Composition Competition

More information can be found here: http://www.derekmjenkins.com/nach-raum-und-zeit

"Nach Raum und Zeit" for high voice and piano (complete)

"We Seven" for Wind Ensemble was written in 2014 and premiered 7 May 2014 by the University of Missouri-Kansas City Wind Ensemble under the direction of Joseph Parisi.

Winner, 2022 Dresdner Bläserphilharmonie's Winds Composition Contest Saxony I Edition
Winner, 2016 American Prize for Composition - Band/Wind Ensemble (Student Division)

More information can be found here: http://www.derekmjenkins.com/we-seven

"We Seven" for wind ensemble

Lindsey Jacob, alto saxophone. Helga Karen, piano. Yi-Hsuan Lin, percussion.

Performed at Auditorium Citta di Maccagno, Italy, as part of the soundSCAPE Festival. July 16, 2014. 

Indulgent

This is an excerpt from the end of Su Counterpoint. It is performed here by Jun Qian on clarinet; Zhou Jing on the Chinese zheng; and Scott Steele on Percussion. The full recording is to be released n 2016 on Albany Records on a recording of contemporary clarinet music performed by Jun Qian. The project is titled "West Meets East."

For more on Scott Steele, please visit: scottsteelecomposer.com

For more on Jun Qian: http://blogs.baylor.edu/junqianclarinet/

Su Counterpoint Excerpt

"Eosphorus: The Morning Star" for Wind Ensemble was written in 2009 and premiered 28 April 2010 by the University of Missouri-Kansas City Wind Ensemble under the direction of Joseph Parisi.

Winner, 2012 National Band Association's Young Composer Mentor Project
Honorable Mention, 2011 Truman State University / MACRO Composition Competition

More information can be found here: http://www.derekmjenkins.com/eosphorus

"Eosphorus: The Morning Star" for wind ensemble

"Boreas: The North Wind" for Wind Ensemble was written in 2010 and commissioned by Timothy Shade and the Bethel College Wind Ensemble. It was premiered 7 December 2010.

Winner, 2013 Gerald Kemner Prize for Wind Ensemble

More information can be found here: http://www.derekmjenkins.com/boreas

Su Counterpoint Excerpt

Scott Steele 1

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