(The year of) January In Review

Whew. Three cheers to being done with the first month of the year. I know, I know. Every January always feels like the longest month of our lives, but this one felt particularly different. Not sure if it was the amount of projects I worked on, the holiday season being over, or just the existential dread. (Why not all of the above?)

Here are some notable things I did this month:

• I finished composing Infinity Mirror, for steel pan quartet. Composed for Michael Corts and the Blue Star Steel Band of Oklahoma City University, this minimalist piece depicts light as both a particle and a wave in my first composition for steel pans. I hope to visit with BSSB coming up as they prepare this piece and many other world premieres for a special concert later this spring semester. You can listen to a mock-up of Infinity Mirror here.

• I composed Ozymandias, a ten minute concertino for timpani and percussion quartet. This piece, composed for DMA student Chase Gillett of Hamiruge: the LSU Percussion Group, explores the ephemeral nature of our creative output. It’s set to receive its world premiere later this year.

• I composed some new music for the upcoming Stolen Realm Survivors video game. After working on the Stolen Realm Original Soundtrack (Stream on Apple Music, Spotify) with composer Jenn(ifer) Jolley, I’m taking all of our original music, writing some entirely new tracks, and dressing it all up in a symphonic metal outfit. You can listen to a two-minute preview here.

• I attended a concert of Donald Grantham’s Fanfare for the Maestro (world premiere) and John Corigliano’s Triathlon (Soloist Stephen Page, saxophone soloist), and Circus Maximus: Symphony No. 3 for Large Wind Ensemble, performed by the University of Texas at Austin Wind Ensemble directed by Conductor Jerry Junkin. After moving to Austin a mere eight months ago, I still pinch myself at having the ability to attend all Texas Bands concerts whenever I’m able to, and especially without having to take a road trip to do so.
  
  The concert was exceptional, as expected. Grantham’s Fanfare was quintessentially composed in his celebrated voice, and Junkin’s masterful conducting and interpretation of his style was, undoubtedly, a match made in wind band Heaven. (After all, it was composed to commemorate Professor Junkin’s 35th and 30th anniversaries as director of UTWE and Dallas Winds, respectively.) Professor Page was truly “locked in” throughout Corigliano’s alliterative concerto for saxophones. Masterful. Musical. Meticulous in the best possible way.
  
  But there was something truly special about Circus Maximus. I’ve only heard this piece live one other time. In 2022, I dragged the ever-willing Iris on a six hour road trip from Oklahoma City to Lubbock, TX for the Texas Tech Symphonic Wind Ensemble performance of it, with John Corigliano in residence. His pre-concert talk was intriguing and informative, and we nearly met him before his handler brushed him away before the performance.
  
  Though he wasn’t in attendance for the UTWE performance, I felt his spirit there. I was shaking for the entire performance, as this work has had a profound impact on my life. (Even more so now after removing myself from social media.) To witness its performance by the ensemble and conductor who commissioned it was a gift, and I’m beyond grateful to have lived in that moment, in that space, and with those fellow audience members.

• I played a concert as a percussionist with Austin Symphonic Band! Our concert, titled Lest We Forget, was an 80th anniversary commemorating the end of World War II.

• On top of all this, I watched tons of Oklahoma City Thunder Basketball, played through Halo 3 for the first time in its entirety, and started watching season 2 of Severance. And, oh yeah, I launched “For the Record!” (Thanks for being here!)

Performance and Concert Updates

• Thanks to conductor and collaborator Kaitlin Bove for conducting my piece, Incognito, with the Sonoma County Junior High Honor Band recently!

• I’ll be performing as a percussionist with Austin Symphonic Band in our next concert, titled Celebration, on Sunday April 13, 2025. If you’re in the central Texas area, we’d love for you to join us!

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.

• I was recently blessed with the sounds of Herbie Hancock’s Watermelon Man, specifically from his 1973 Head Hunters album, while listening to KUTX 98.9 on our way home from Austin Symphonic Band rehearsal. I’d never heard this version before, and frankly, I was stopped in my tracks despite going 60 mph (96.5 km/h). I haven’t stopped listening to it since last Tuesday.

• I’ve had dissonances stuck in my head for the last few weeks. I’m not sure why, so naturally, I turned to the music of Eric Whitacre. One of my more recently played tracks is this one from his Three Flower Songs.

• I’ve been listening to VersaEmerge’s Fixed at Zero album every week for the last year or so. My favorite track on that album by far is Little Tree, though I highly recommend listening to the album from the beginning to understand its woven tapestry.

• And just for fun, listen to this.

February Happenings (& Beyond)

• I’ll be traveling to San Antonio to attend TMEA between February 12-15! I’ll be working the C. Alan Publications booth. If you’ll be at the conference, come find us at booth #1827 and say hi!

• I’ll be streaming on Twitch on February 8th at 6 PM for a minimum of two hours. I’ll be composing a new piece in either Logic Pro, Finale, or Dorico, so we can hang out while I work. Feel free to ask questions, too!

• Oklahoma friends, I’ll be in residence with the Oklahoma Baptist University Symphonic Winds in the first week of March! (More on that next month.) Would you like to have me visit and work with your ensemble? Let me know by contacting me here. I’d love to plan something!