Many thanks to Mr. Adam Keller and the Smoky Valley High School Symphonic Band for their recent performance of Hoopla, my latest work for band. Mr. Keller and Smoky Valley High School were part of the consortium of 10 schools that co-commissioned the work last summer, and I was thrilled to have such an historically strong Kansas band program be part of the commissioning. Check out their performance below! 

Composers Arthur Breur, Garrett Hope and myself make up TPC Collective. 

We have recently released a list of our newest works for band and orchestra, which we are making availalbe for performers at this years Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, but we also want to make them available for anyone else to view as well! If you're interested, you can view them here! 

I'm happy to share a new consortium opportunity for a grade 3 band piece: Hoopla! 

There are two options available for joining the consortium:

• Level 1 - $250/ensemble
• Level 2 - $100/ensemble

Click here to learn more and to register! Please share!! Thanks!!

It's always a exciting to be at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic; I've been attending most years since 2001, and exhibiting with some colleagues for the past four years (minus 2020 for covid). Arthur Breur, Garrett Hope and myself make up TPC Collective, which is a hub for finding our music for band and orchestra. From there, we have links to our individual websites. 

This year was the first time I've had a piece selected for one of the reading sessions: Heroes Return for beginner bands.

Midwest always…

I recently learned that my beginner band piece Heroes Return will be on the Band New Music Reading Session at this year's Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. This is the first time I've had a piece selected for a Midwest reading session, and I couldn't be happier! 

The session will be Monday, December 19 at 10:30 - Noon in W178 (McCormack Place). For a demo/preview of the piece, click here. 

If you're at Midwest, I'd love to see you there! 

I'm pleased to announce a consortium for new music! If you're unfamiliar with a consortium in the context of commissioning new music, it basically is a way of sharing a commission with other ensembles and performers. This benefits the musicians, as they don't have to carry the commission fee alone, and it benefits the composer, because he/she gets more performances! It's really a win-win. 

This consortium is for Incarnation, which will be for SATB choir and concert band. It will be a sacred Christmas work…

I recently learned that my concert band piece Gateway Overture was name an Editor's Choice selection by J.W. Pepper, one of the largest sheet music distributors in the world. This is my sixth Pepper Editor's Choice selection, and second for band. While it is an honor under any circumstance, I am especially proud of this, because I composed Gateway Overture for my junior high alma mater, Blackhawk Middle School (Bensenville, IL), and premiered it (amazingly) 30 years to the day that I started attending the…

This past October, I had the privilege of conducting my new band piece Hope and a New Dawn with the Arlington Heights Community Concert Band (Arlington Heights, IL). They recently sent me a recording of the performance, which you can find here!

Hope and a New Dawn was the product of a consortium with five high school and community bands. If you or a director you know would be interested in co-commissioning a work or heading up a consortium for a new work, please let me know! 

Earlier this month I completed and delivered my newest concert band commission to the consortium members that funded it's creation. Hope and a New Dawn is a Grade 3/3+ piece for concert band, the piece was written to communicate a sense of optimism as we head into a post-covid world. No, we're not past it yet, but we will be, and when we get there, it will be an overwhelming time of reunion, joy, hope...but we will also have to remember and mourn what was lost. Through prominent melodies and driving…

I'm grateful to the following band directors and schools for joining the consortium:

Mr. Bryan Wright 
Paschal High School (Fort Worth, TX)

Mr. Steve Willemssen 
Wheaton Academy (West Chicago, IL)

Mr. Chris Dandeles
Waubsonsie Valley High School (Aurora, IL)

Mr. Dan Braker
Thornapple Wind Band (Hastings, MI) 

Mr. Victor Anderson
Yorkville High School (Yorkville, IL) 

I'm so excited that we have groups from three different states involved!! 

I will deliver the piece to them on January 8, 2021. Hopefully…

Consortium opportunity for Grade 2 Concert Band! Only $100 to join; includes score and parts (PDF delivery) and a 9-month premier window. Please feel free to share, and contact me with any questions.

You can join the consortium by clicking here. Thanks!!! 

Grade 2 and Grade 3 Consortium opportunities to commission new music for your band! 

On Wednesday, November 6, I went back to my old junior high in the Chicago suburbs for the premier of my newest band piece, Gateway Overture. Blackhawk Middle School (Bensenville, IL) and director Mr. William Winters commissioned the piece, which included some video chats with the students in order to get to know them and the kind of piece that would most interest them. I took suggestions, listened to pieces they previously enjoyed playing, and based most of my musical decisions off of their feedback. It…

My newest band piece Gateway Overture will be premiered on November 6th at Blackhawk Middle School in Bensenville, IL. Commissioned by Blackhawk and director of bands Mr. William Winters, this piece is the culmination of several months of planning, discussion, and video chats with students (and a lot of learning on my part on writing for younger band!).

The title of the piece comes from Bensenville's motto, "Gateway to Opportunity." I'm so grateful for this opportunity, not only to write a new piece for…

With the upcoming move (just days away....) I've decided to postpone my 2020 Band Consortium until I'm settled in to my new job and routine at Tabor College. I'll still keep the info up, and just change the dates, but right now the plan is to simply bump it back a year. 

But you can still sign up to be part of the consortium for next year! Click here to be taken to the registration form.

Thanks!

Some big changes coming! On August 1st, I will join the faculty of Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas, as Associate Professor of Music and Director of Instrumental Music. These last 7 years in Fort Worth have been great, and while we are sad to be leaving, we're excited to start this new chapter! 

I'll check in with more details down the road; but for now, I will be arriving to my new gig the first week of August, and will begin teaching 2 weeks after that. I'm still trying to wrap my head around all of…

For my band director friends, I'd like to invite you to join my 2020 Band Consortium! I'm organizing this to commission a new work for Grade 3 band that will help kick off the start of a new decade. The piece will be energetic, exciting, and intended to symbolize looking ahead to the future with optimism and hope. In addition to the score and parts to the completed piece, I would be happy to interact with your ensemble via Skype/facetime to talk about the process of composing and why I decided to become a…