Composer and Singer
Chamber
Palindrome
Written for Transient Canvas
Premiered: June 22, 2021
Livestreamed from Pickman Hall.
5 min
A palindrome which starts with the marimba playing in their low register and the bass clarinet in their high register and ends with the same material with the marimba in the high register and the bass clarinet in the low register. The material from the beginning develops into a groove with a continuous 8th-note bass line passed around between the instruments an amongst their different registers.
Come Along
Written for Longy's Ensemble Uncaged
Premiered April 2021
Livestreamed from Pickman Hall.
Nicholas Schleyer, Abby Temple, Hollyn Slykhuis trumpets
3 min
Just Sit and Relax
solo guitar
2020
The Toys We Played With
Premiered: May 1, 2019
Nickolas Stavros flute
Kathryn DeLaMare cello
The Immortal
Written for the Mivos Quartet
2017
Duration: 4:56
Imagine 3 individuals walking together as a unit. Then, one of them decides to veer off into something different. Another follows, and the third is trying to stick with the old way until they're finally convinced to follow through.
Written for a friend who was out of practice in guitar, and thus had difficulty moving her left hand. I wrote this piece so that the guitarist can keep their hand in one position for a whole section while the right hand does all the plucking. What resulted was a slow meditative piece one can just relax to.
Two movements, each depicting toys we played with as a kid.
A quartet that tells the story of an immortal and the struggles of living forever.
The Writer
2016
Robert Cosgrove percussion
Evangeline Werger piano
Duration: 5:56
Inspired by the poem by Richard Wilber about a father observing his daughter as she anxiously types a story.
Sandpipers
Premiered: June 13, 2015
Nave Graham flute
Eric Umble clarinet
Bram Margoles violin
Duration: 9:58
I walked along the coast of Lido Beach in Sarasota, Florida and found a flock of sandpipers, birds like sea gulls but taller and with longer beaks, feeding at the coast. Their movements and characters fascinated me. They ran away whenever a wave comes. Whenever they ate, they had a few bites at a time. The adult sandpipers walked with stiff movements while the baby birds scurried like mice. One sandpiper floated on the water surface and dipped its head like a duck. In this piece I described what I saw using small gestures for the birds and a highly timbral background for the water.
There’s Nothing to be Afraid of…
Premiered: June 2013
Ben Prima and Casey McLellan percussion
Thea Mesirow cello
Duration: 9:45
To Unity
May 2013
Alex Baker cello
Alex Rossi tuba
Ben Stock piano
Duration: 5:55
Each of the instruments in this trio has its own distinct and unique sound, timbre, and quality. For example, the cello can play with vibrato, but the piano and tuba cannot. The piano has a percussive sound on each attack that the cello and tuba lack. The piece begins with each instrument presenting its own melody, each showing off its unique qualities. For the rest of the piece, these three melodies repeat again and again changing a bit each time until they develop together into a new melody that all three instruments play in unison. The instruments’ timbres also develop into a unique new sound.
Breaking Habits
December 19, 2012
Nathaniel Cornell violin
Annika Sundberg viola.
Later arranged for cello and clarinet
Duration: 5:46
Abnormal Day
Premiered: November 4 2012.
Giovanni Bertoni clarinet
Duration: 2:53
Trio for Bassoon, Kalimba, and Bass Drum
July 10, 2012
Dana Jessen bassoon
David Meyers kalimba
Quinn Gutman bass drum
Duration: 1:39
7 Bagatelles
Premiered: July 27, 2011
Jessi Rosinski flute
Tierney O’Brien clarinet
Tawnya Popoff viola
Robert Burkhart cello
Steve Beck piano
Duration: 7:28
Monkey and Zookeeper
July 5, 2011
Joshua Clampitt flute
Tony Makarome electric bass
Duration: 1:13