August In Review

August was a whirlwind. Between attending Drum Corps International Championships for the first time, completing new works, working on marching band arrangements/sound design, and more, the last month of my 32nd year of life was full of equal parts fun and hard work.

Attending my first DCI Champs week was everything I had hoped it would be. I was able to attend Bluecoats’ rehearsal before quarterfinals, and I was absolutely in awe of the level of performance they achieved from the previous time I had seen them on Opening Night. After three days of intense competition, Bluecoats earned the silver medal at the end of the season. I am so proud to have been part of the Bluecoats organization as a Fellow this season, and I look forward to finding out what they create for next season. It was a joy to see the other Fellows in Indianapolis and marvel at all of the amazing things this organization does. Thanks for such a great summer, Bloo.

I had the pleasure of attending my first Recording Academy / GRAMMYs event in Austin! I met so many people at the New Member Welcome at Arlyn Studios, including managers, publicists, and world class artists. I couldn’t help but pinch myself after talking to everyone. It was a joy to see OKC friends Christina Giacona and Patrick Conlon of Onyx Lane and thank them for helping me throughout the application process. It was refreshing to get back to Austin for two days, and I look forward to going back for a week in September.

Aside from that, the rest of the month was full of creating, playing drums, and finally starting to feel normal with life back in the Rio Grande Valley.

New Music!

I am extremely excited to share new music for the Texas Prescribed Music List (PML), new published works, and new audio mockups of recently completed works!

For the first time, I have Band works on the PML!

• Until We Meet Again (Grade 2.5) is suited for developing band and features a three part structure and is perfect for festival programs. An innocent depiction of loss, this piece depicts joy, sadness, and a celebration of memories when reuniting with someone special.

• As the World Waits (Grade 3.5) was composed for Leander High School for their 2021 Midwest Clinic Performance and is my musical response to 2020. It calls to musicians and audience members to band together so we may achieve collective progress.

• Here are the rest of my offerings on the PML:

  • The Test of Time (solo marimba and piano accompaniment)

  • Aequillibrium (Percussion Ensemble, 5 players)

  • Sonatina (Percussion Ensemble, 12 players)

  • Cosmic Lighthouse (Percussion Ensemble, 8 players + optional Piano)

  • Tour de Force (Percussion Ensemble, 12 players)

I have thirteen (!!!) newly published works with C. Alan Publications!

Band

• Dreamweaver (Grade 2 Band)

• A Thousand Inner Voices (Grade 3.5 Band, recently featured as a J.W. Pepper Editor’s Choice selection)

• Forerunner (Grade 4.5 Band)

Percussion

• Hymn (Percussion Ensemble, 4 players)

• the little things (Percussion Ensemble, 5 players + audience performers)

• Back Pocket (Solo Multi-Percussion (Drum Set) + Trigger Pad)

• Time Laps(e) (Solo Snare Drum + Fixed Media)

Chamber

• Exod(us) (Euphonium and Percussion)

• Trailblazer (Trombone and Piano)

• Echo Chamber (Saxophone and Trumpet with Track)

• Ponte las Pilas (Clarinet Quartet and opt. Cajón)

• Ponte las Pilas (Brass Quintet and opt. Cajón)

• Ponte las Pilas (Trombone Quartet and opt. Cajón)

If you’d like to collaborate on a performance of any of these works with me, either as a conductor or a chamber ensemble coach this season, feel free to contact me here!

Additionally, I have new mockups available for recently completed works:

• Ari’s Repose, composed for Dr. Marco Schirripa and the Pixel Masterworks Consortium.

• Descansos, composed for Ninkasi Percussion Group’s upcoming Midwest Clinic performance in December. Program notes on that piece are as follows:

Across both rural highways and urban intersections, handmade memorials appear: white crosses, wilted flowers, photographs behind glass. My inspiration among these is ghost bikes, bicycles painted entirely white and chained where cyclists have passed. These are Descansos, from the Spanish word for “rest,” marking sudden loss in places of transit. Whether a roadside shrine in the desert or a spectral bike on a city street, each is an altar of absence: a silent pause in the landscape and a trace of lives carried by the transient vessels we call our bodies.

This piece imagines descansos not as fixed markers, but as emotional states that unfold over time. Written for four percussionists, Descansos traces a slow–fast–slow arc: a journey of stillness, motion, and return. Each movement becomes a kind of sonic resting place, each built from rhythm, resonance, and reflection. A recurring motif runs through the work: crescendos that begin to rise, but are cut short, signifying echoes of lives interrupted.

I. Markers
The piece opens in near silence. Key chimes, bell tree, and a spun bicycle wheel emerge, evoking the Veil of Death just out of reach. Each sound is carefully placed, suspended in stillness. A crescendo begins but quickly fades. The wheel, like a ghost bike, remains unresolved, a presence shaped by absence.

II. Pulse
Rhythm takes hold as drums and marimba lock into a steady groove. Metallic accents flicker like distant bells. Each performer taps out Morse code for “PASSING,” signaling sudden loss. An Aztec Death Whistle breaks through: the breathless cry of a life crossing over. The music climbs toward its climax with driving improvisations and descending harmonies, a shrine to the ancestors so they may guide those who pass.

III. Final Light
The momentum unravels. Metallic sounds return, delicate and distant. The bicycle wheel reappears in softer gestures. Melodic fragments rise and disappear. Echoes of heartbeats slow and grow more distant. Descending harmonies represent a casket lowered into the earth, but the mood shifts toward peace and resolution. A final swell fades mid-breath. All that remains is space, memory, and the silence of the final descanso.

Descansos is dedicated to my dad.

Lastly, I am so excited to share that I recently completed nine EDM tracks in collaboration with fellow C. Alan composer Brian Monroe on a new collection coming out soon! (I guess listening to a bunch of EDM over the last few years came in handy, huh?)

Performance and Concert Updates

• I don’t have any scheduled for September 2025, but I am hard at work in all stages of the commission process with multiple projects! The 2025-26 season is shaping up to be an exciting one! With that being said,

• If you’d like to have me out as a guest composer or conductor in the 2025-26 season, please contact me here.

If you’re programming my music, please let me know so I can give you a shoutout here in future newsletters and report these performances to my Performing Rights Organization, BMI! You can submit concert performances of my music here.

Now Playing

Welcome to “Now Playing,” where I share the things I’m listening to right now.

• With all of my recent composing, I’ve been trying to keep my head clear to make room for my own ideas. I have taken to liking one track I came across on Instagram, the new Dream Theater album, and I’m beyond excited to get into both Nate Smith’s new LIVE-ACTION and Hayley Williams’s Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party albums.

September Happenings

• I’ll be completing two new works: one for saxophone and marimba titled Alacrán and one for choir and electronics titled Uncommon Altars. I am so excited to get these works finished and sent off!

• Aside from that, I’m excited to head back to Austin for a week, including attending the University of Texas Wind Ensemble’s first concert of the season!

• Other happenings include visiting my marching band collaborators, finishing up shows, and cheering on the Texas Longhorns football team. (No, I don’t want to talk about the Ohio State University season opener, thank you very much… but either way,🤘🏼)