Valley of Fire Photo shoot by Mark Maryanovich

Cerulealina(2018)

Duration: 8 minutes

I’m grateful for the support of a Nevada Arts Council Jackpot Grant to record my new composition Cerulealina for violin, cello, harp, 3 percussion and double bass.

Cerulealina was written for second album, featuring Ying Zhang (violin), Andy Smith (cello), Tim Jones, Gabriela Ordoñez Villalobos, Luc Brust (percussion), Emily Montoya Barnes (harp), and Geff Neuman (bass).

Cerulealina is an imaginary world glowing with various shades of blue light. I chose this instrumentation because I felt it best captured the essence of this dreamy place, inspired by my favorite color, cerulean blue. Throughout the composition, the instruments intertwine and communicate with each other, creating a beautiful, sparkly and evocative landscape filled with energy. Each player has their own feature/solo throughout, which is influenced by my interests in writing pieces that feature jazz instrumentalists.

Elegy (Deserted)

for mezzo-soprano and alto saxophone
text is poem “Elegy (Deserted)” by Eryn Green

Duration: 3 1/2 minutes
Written for Megan Ihnen & Alan Theisen present… This World of Yes for premiere at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on the Nextet concert, November 13, 2018 in Doc Rando Hall.

Here is the FB event for more details: https://www.facebook.com/events/422568561609853/

North Star(2017)

for flute choir

North Star (2017) was live recorded by the UNLV Flutes under the direction of Jennifer Grim.

I’m thrilled to be one of the featured Music Now Composers at the 52nd Annual Contemporary music festival at Indiana State University! My composition Crystalline was selected for performance for Friday, October 26 at 3pm in Boyce Recital Hall in the Landini Performing Arts Center. https://www.indstate.edu/cas/cmf

Pianists Olga Shupyatskaya and Futaba Niekawa, who originally commissioned the piece and premiered it at Eastman School of Music July 2, 2017, are here to perform the piece alongside faculty percussionist, Jimmy Finnie and his student, Black Roach. Roby George, the director of bands here at ISU is conducting the work and it’s been a blast working with all of them.

In addition to the performance, I served on a panel alongside composers Roger Zare (orchestra composition winner), Marc Mellits (Guest Composer) and Matthew Kraemer (conductor of the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra), discussing topics on music business.

Updated score for my flute choir piece North Star is now available! This version is for performances that do not include narrator (the original one was commissioned to include a narrator to introduce the various instruments of the flute choir and is titled North Star: A Listener’s Guide to the Flute Choir). Both versions are listed here: Flute Choir.

The UNLV Flutes under the direction of Jennifer Grim recorded North Star on Friday, October 12th and I’m excited to share the recording soon!

Cerulealina will be recorded Fall 2018 with the support of a Nevada Arts Council Individual Jackpot Grant!

for violin, cello, harp, 3 percussion and double bass
Duration: 8 minutes

Cerulealina is an imaginary world glowing with various shades of blue light. I chose this instrumentation because I felt it best captured the essence of this dreamy place, inspired by my favorite color, cerulean blue. Throughout the composition, the instruments intertwine and communicate with each other, creating a beautiful, sparkly and evocative landscape filled with energy. Each player has their own feature/solo throughout, which is influenced by my interests in writing pieces that feature jazz instrumentalists.

Cerulealina(2018)

for violin, cello, harp, 3 percussion and double bass
Duration: 8 minutes

Cerulealina is an imaginary world glowing with various shades of blue light. I chose this instrumentation because I felt it best captured the essence of this dreamy place, inspired by my favorite color, cerulean blue. Throughout the composition, the instruments intertwine and communicate with each other, creating a beautiful, sparkly and evocative landscape filled with energy. Each player has their own feature/solo throughout, which is influenced by my interests in writing pieces that feature jazz instrumentalists.

Cerulealina was written for Bellor’s second album and will be premiered September 24, 2018 on the UNLV Nextet concert.

I’m super excited to be the resident Clock Shop composer for the percussion quartet, Clocks in Motion! I’m working on my first of four percussion quartets for them, and cannot wait to hear how it sounds at their rehearsal in September. Here’s a link to their website for more information: Clock Shop