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I finished a new work for Grade 1 Band titled Escape Room! In Escape Room, we find the listener locked in a room in a race against the clock. Repeating, layered figures gradually build tension throughout the piece, culminating in the return of the opening material before a driving conclusion. The ending leaves listeners to wonder whether our escape was successful, or whether we’re forever stuck inside. Though quite literal in its nature, this piece can also serve as a metaphor for being stuck in a place you don’t belong with a desperate need to get out. The work draws inspiration from a defining musical experience in my early years as a percussionist: playing timpani on Robert W. Smith’s Furioso as a middle school student in the 2005 San Benito All City Band. It was my first conscious experience with musical layering, and the excitement of that moment has stayed with me ever since. Escape Room represents a long-held goal of capturing that energy, serving as a middle school-level companion to my more advanced piece for band, Nightmare Fuel. Escape Room was commissioned by Omar Blanco and the Perkins Middle School Symphonic Band based in Brownsville, Texas.
Escape Room will be premiered at Perkins Middle School Spring Concert and released through C. Alan Publications later this year. For now, you can listen to the mockup here. Speaking of C. Alan Publications, my recently premiered work, Descansos, is now available for perusal and purchase! It was commissioned by the Ninkasi Percussion Group for their 2025 Midwest Clinic performance. I wanted to give a special shoutout to the Enterprise High School Wind Ensemble (AL) for performing my marimba feature with grade 3 band, The Test of Time, at Alabama Music Educator’s Conference on January 22nd! Thanks to fellow C. Alan composer and friend, Robbie Clayson, for throwing down on the marimba part and to director Sean Weiler for programming it for their showcase concert!
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