The Gorgeous Nothings (2016) for Soprano, Flute, Oboe and Piano
Other Instrumentation available:
Soprano, Flute, Soprano Saxophone and Piano
Soprano, Flute, Clarinet in Bb and Piano
Text: Emily Dickinson fragments
Duration: ca. 10 minutes
Vocal Range: C4-A5
Commission: Lawrence Arts Center
Premiere: Sarah Tannehill-Anderson, Soprano and Trio Allegresse, March 11, 2017

To order and recording, perusal score, program notes please click Vocal Music. 

Livid Loneliness of Fear (2019) for Mezzo-Soprano, Flute, Clarinet ,Violin, Cello and Percussion (1 Player: Vibraphone, Concert Bass Drum)
Duration: 15 min
Text: Amelia Earhart
Vocal Range: G#3-F#5
Commission: Music in the American Wild

To order and recording, perusal score, program notes please visit Vocal Music.

Loveliness Extreme (2007) for Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano
Other Instrumentation available: 
Clarinet, Viola and Piano (available under Trios)
Duration: 11 min
Commission: newEar contemporary chamber ensemble
Premiere:       newEar contemporary chamber ensemble
April 28, 2007; Kansas City, MO

For recording, perusal score, program notes and performance history please click More Information below.

Digital Score & Parts Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano Version $20.

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Program Note: Words are the inspirational seeds for much of the music I write. “Loveliness Extreme” was inspired by Gertrude Stein’s 1913 poem, “Sacred Emily”:

Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose

Loveliness extreme.

Extra gaiters,

Loveliness extreme.

Sweetest ice-cream

Pages ages page ages page ages.

Reading Stein, I get the sense that she was digging deep under each word, turning each over itself and the next, inside and out, to discover the possibilities that lay beneath. Stein said: “One of the things that is a very interesting thing to know is how you are feeling inside you to the words that are coming out to be outside of you.” The words “loveliness” and “extreme,” together, created a beautiful inner landscape that allowed me to discover a deeper understanding of the connection between what starts on the inside and grows into something that can be experienced on the outside. “Loveliness Extreme” was originally commissioned by newEar contemporary chamber ensemble for violin, clarinet, cello and piano and premiered in 2007. The trio version for viola, clarinet and piano was arranged for the NAVO Trio in 2013.

 

Quartet Version for Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano Version

The More Things Change (2012) for Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Piano and Percussion
Percussion Details: Vibraphone, Glockenspiel, Xylophone, suspended cymbal, triangle, Tam-tam – 1 player
Other Instrumentation available:
Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Violin, Cello, Piano and Percussion
(arranged for Latitude 49)
Duration: 7:30 min
Commission: newEar contemporary chamber ensemble
Premiere: newEar contemporary chamber ensemble, September 8, 2013, Kansas City, MO

For recording, perusal score, program notes and performance history please click More Information below.

Digital Score & Parts $20.
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Program Note: The proverb “the more things change, the more they stay the same” is usually taken at face value as a sentiment of dissatisfaction and weariness. Having been exploring the concept of time and impermanence in a series of works, I found myself questioning the validity of this uncontested statement. I came to realize that a more accurate statement might be “the more things change, the more my desire for permanence increases.” The tension between the awareness of impermanence and the desire for permanence created an inner dialogue that uncovered emotions, ranging from excitement to resistance to wonderment, which were invaluable to my creative process. “The More Things Change” was commissioned by newEar contemporary chamber ensemble for their 20th Anniversary Season.

Where the Sun of Freedom Shines (2021) for Flute, Clarinet, Horn, Violin, Viola, Cello and Vibraphone
Duration: 10 min
Commission: American Wild Ensemble
Premiere: American Wild Ensemble, August 4, 2021, Springfield, MO

For recording, perusal score, program notes and performance history please click More Information below.

Digital Score & Parts $35.
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Program Notes: When I first moved to Missouri in 1991, I came to learn how many German areas there were in the state. Missourians often made a point of telling me I should go visit Hermann, Missouri which they called the Little Germany of Missouri. The first time I visited Saint Louis there happened to be a German parade. I have to admit that I didn’t know much about the immigration history and the reasons why so many Germans in the 19th Century left their homeland to come to settle along the Missouri River. This commission was my opportunity to take a deep dive into this fascinating history which inspired the emotional landscape of the composition. The title for my piece “Where the Sun of Freedom Shines” is an English translation from a line of a Auswanderungslied (Song of Emigration) by Friedrich Münch which specifically encouraged Germans in the 1830s to relocate to Missouri. “Auf in mutigem Vertrauen, fest und brüderlich vereint! Vorwärts, vorwärts, lasst uns schauen, am Missouri Hütten bauen, wo der Freiheit Sonne scheint.” (Translation: With courageous trust, firmly and brotherly united! Forward, forward let us look ahead and build huts at the Missouri, where the sun of freedom shines.) During my research, I found many other German emigration songs from the Nineteenth Century and I enjoyed incorporating short melodic fragments into my composition.  

“Where the Sun of Freedom Shines” was commissioned by the American Wild Ensemble for the Missouri Bicentennial in 2021. It is my hope that this composition serves as a reminder of the important and invaluable contributions immigrants from all nations have made and continue to make to the cultural life of Missouri and the United States.