Performed in 2015 at the Snow Pond Music Festival by Peter H. Bloom (without much rehearsal due to excessive amounts of pieces and little rehearsal time).

Indecision (or Maybe Not)[2015]

This piece was first written for a reading session at East Carolina University with the vocal octet Roomful of Teeth. The recording is taken from the reading.

Day and Night (2014) is based on some traditional tropes of daytime and nighttime. Namely, that day can be interpreted as representing “good qualities” (like warmth and transparency) and night can be viewed as the opposite, with “bad qualities” (like cold and opaqueness). In the piece, this is manifested in the opening and in shifting-gestures, where day is associated with a C major chord and night is given a D minor chord. Also, there are two sections in the middle, the first is intended to resemble day, with beautiful qualities, and the second is supposed to resemble night, with angsty qualities. The C major and D minor associations that occur in the shifting-gestures and in the opening don’t apply here, but do return in later shifting-gestures and at final cadence, where they join for a polychord based on C major and D minor. 

The loose story that the design is based on is that light begins to peek through the sky at dawn and is occasionally obscured by clouds but ultimately, daylight shines down without any interference. Then, as the sun sets, there is a transition as day fades to darkness and night ensues. As the piece ends, light begins to peek through again as the dawn of the next day starts.

Day and Night [2014]

This is the third movement of my piece, “Light Beneath the Canopy.” This movement was originally performed on its own, in the Fall of 2017. This recording is from my senior recital at East Carolina University, in the Spring of 2017, when the entirety of the piece was finally performed. It was performed by Helen Park, conductor; Patrick Rose and Sean Brinsfield, trumpets; Caleb Harris, Andrew Howell, Kelsey Blake, and Emma Johnson, horns; Taylor Babson and Steven Kosch, trombones; Sean Reynolds, bass trombone; Josh Bishop, Euphonium; Blake Ryall, Tuba; Brandon Banks, piano; Daniel Crisp, John Weeks, and Mark Klaich, percussion.

Light Beneath the Canopy (a final movement)[2017]

This is the second movement of my piece, “Light Beneath the Canopy.” This recording is from my senior recital at East Carolina University, in the Spring of 2017. It was performed by Helen Park, conductor; Patrick Rose and Sean Brinsfield, trumpets; Caleb Harris, Andrew Howell, Kelsey Blake, and Emma Johnson, horns; Taylor Babson and Steven Kosch, trombones; Sean Reynolds, bass trombone; Josh Bishop, Euphonium; Blake Ryall, Tuba; Brandon Banks, piano; Daniel Crisp, John Weeks, and Mark Klaich, percussion.

Light Beneath The Canopy (a middle movement)[2017]

This is the first movement of my piece, “Light Beneath the Canopy.” This movement was originally performed on its own, in the Spring of 2015. The recording is from my senior recital at East Carolina University, in the Spring of 2017, when the entirety of the piece was finally performed. It was performed by Helen Park, conductor; Patrick Rose and Sean Brinsfield, trumpets; Caleb Harris, Andrew Howell, Kelsey Blake, and Emma Johnson, horns; Taylor Babson and Steven Kosch, trombones; Sean Reynolds, bass trombone; Josh Bishop, Euphonium; Blake Ryall, Tuba; Brandon Banks, piano; Daniel Crisp, John Weeks, and Mark Klaich, percussion.

Light Beneath The Canopy (a first movement)[2017]

This is a recording of me performing a horn improvisation with a fixed logic file. The content of the logic file is derived from a campfire sample and altered through the effects available in logic.

Improvisation (horn and fixed media)[2018]

This is a reading that took place at East Carolina University of a piece I wrote for solo violin. The origins of this piece go back to my sophomore year of college. I was taking a class in electronic music composition, and one of our projects was to make something using one sound exclusively, altering the sound with the computer to make music. In the following semester I premiered an electronic piece again using a single sound idea, which in this case was a spoken motive of “everything is going to be okay,” and called the piece Motivational Speakers. After completing these electronic projects, it occurred to me that I had never done this with an instrumental piece. 
          When the opportunity came to have a piece read by a violinist, during the fall of my junior year, as part of the New Music Initiative at ECU, I thought it would be an excellent reason to give it a shot. The motive that I used was taken from a piece I wrote my freshman year, A Pathetic Piece. The motive itself is the first four notes of the piece, three consecutive E’s followed by a perfect 5th descent to A. The music begins rhythmically unstable, but it soon gains footing with sections that are more driving and certain. In between the driving sections, there appears a creeping section and later a large middle part which is more reflective. The piece ends with driving energy straight into the final notes.

Apathetic Piece (to be played with care) [2015]

This is a recording of a reading session that occurred at East Carolina University in 2016.

John Isaac Ward's Album

Little Lamb [2016]

This piece was written for the 2018 Charlotte New Music Festival. It was performed by Hypercube, one of the resident ensembles, and the recording is of their live performance. The piece was an experiment in form, with me deciding most of the aspects of the overall shape, harmonic areas, and the general energy, before writing the material. For me, this was different, since before this point, I typically would start developing musical ideas first and then find an overall form in the process.

The music in Spring is Coming (no matter what) is characterized by a gradual shift in intensity, like a crescendo (or a decrescendo). This applies to smaller ideas in the piece, as well as the overall form. As part of the overarching experience, there is a general increase in intensity from the beginning to ending of the piece (with ups and downs in-between). This applies especially to the rhythmic speed of material, which, generally, becomes quicker, and also the harmonic plan, which ends in a different harmonic area than the one that starts the piece. Because of this, it sounds like the piece really arrives when it gets to the final cadence.

The title of this piece is a reference to “An Old Story,” a poem by Mary Oliver, in which she describes the arrival of Spring, “which is coming, all by itself, no matter what.” In the context of the poem, this line evokes thoughts about inevitable changes and things that we can’t control. This seems to reflect the nature of the piece, which is a journey from one place to another.

Spring is Coming (no matter what) [2018]

This recording is of a piece I composed for a reading session with UNCG orchestra.

A Step Back (and one forward) [2018]

"Sketch for Soprano and Piano (from a text by Paul Laurence Dunbar)” was composed for a reading at East Carolina University. It was written for (and the recorded reading is by) vocalist Sharon Harms and pianist Steven Beck. The text is derived from the poem, "Religion" by Paul Laurence Dunbar.

Sketch for Soprano and Piano (from a text by Paul Laurence Dunbar) [2017]

"Similar Shapes" plays with the use of basic fingering shapes, used on the guitar and moved up and down the neck, resulting in some nebulous harmonies, giving the sound a mysterious quality. There is also the use of harmonics on the guitar, giving some of tones a hollower, but ringing quality. Three main sections are in the piece: the first being a rhythmic section, with the saxophone playing the melodic material; the second having descending arpeggios accompanying a broad second melody, which gets played by both the guitar and saxophone; and the last, which is similar to the first section, but has some expansions, including a saxophone solo cadenza. The recording is from a reading by Duo Montagnard, featuring Joseph Murphy on the alto saxophone and Matthew Slotkin on the classical guitar.

Similar Shapes [2018]

Building Blocks was made originally for a reading done at East Carolina University. The idea behind the piece was to make something based on a single motive, but to not reveal the motive until the very end, which is played alone by the clarinet. The motive is a descending minor 7th, from D to E. Because the motive is an inversion of a whole step, much of the pitch material is whole-tone.

​The piece starts with a bombastic opening, leading to a quick, 16th note figure, which becomes a prominent feature of the piece. In the music that follows, there are sections that creep along with motoristic ostinatos, sections that are more songlike, and there is use of various textures, incorporating the full ensemble, to utilizing as few as one player. The music builds excitingly to the very end until the motive is revealed in a strikingly more introspective mood.

Building Blocks [2016]

Isaac Ward is a musician–composer, multi-instrumentalist (including guitar, bass, drums, piano, ukulele, mandolin, voice, banjo, french horn, trumpet, etc.) –currently based in Greenville, North Carolina. In 2017, he double majored, receiving bachelor’s degrees in music composition and horn performance from East Carolina University. Ward also graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, obtaining a master’s degree in music composition in 2019.

He has had pieces performed by groups, including Hypercube, Quintet Sirocco, a subset of the Beo Quartet, and the Domino Ensemble. Additionally, Ward has had pieces read by multiple groups and soloist, such as Miranda Cuckson, Loadbang, Yarn/Wire, Roomful of Teeth, Michael Lowenstern, Sharon Harms and Steve Beck, the Dorian Wind Quintet, and the Meridian Arts Ensemble, and others.

In his works, Ward strives to make dramatic and expressive music with timbral interest and idiomatic instrumental writing. He draws inspiration from everything he experiences. Ward is a co-winner of the 2021 Arcady-RBC Emerging Artist Composer’s Competition, which he submitted “Sketch for Soprano and Piano” to. He also collaborated with Julian Ward where they co-composed, produced, and engineered the music and sound-effects for two educational videos by the North Carolina 4-H (2021). He also had his piece “Motivational Speakers” performed at the NYCEMF 2022. He also was one of the winners of the Beth Ratay 2022 call for Mezzo-Soprano works, but the piece isn’t supposed to be played until sometime in 2024.

He also has a website you can check out:
https://isaacwardmusic.wixsite.com/mysite?fbclid=IwAR18_6wgh2lLgtrUb2K3nlEwatiZ6kIOXbX N_3SwJ8gAZg182JSHnjStR-w

Isaac has worked with Julian Ward and continues to do so, on a band project called “Trying to Understand,” which includes musical pieces composed by each individual member of the band, but also some collaborative compositions.

You can find the band here: https://www.youtube.com/@tryingtounderstand/videos

Also Isaac has worked with Julian Ward on another Youtube channel, which is generally more based in comedy, called “No Humor is Good Humor,” which also includes music in some of the videos they individually composed or collaborated on in the composition process. No Humor is Good Humor recently was amongst the winners for the Global FIlm Exhibition, for a video they made called “May I Go to the Restroom?”

“May I Go to the Restroom?:” https://youtu.be/at6-O-unvQ0?si=P0DN3qeiFkeZznzn 

No Humor is Good Humor: https://www.youtube.com/@nohumorisgoodhumor

Isaac Ward

Popular tracks