Hot off the press! My newest piece for string orchestra is now available. Persevering is meant to convey a sense of continuing on through adversity. The COVID-19 Pandemic was the impetus for writing this piece, but the sentiment certainly expands beyond that to different times and types of adversity.

The sheet music is available from J.W. Pepper, and you can preview the score and listen to a demo recording. Please feel free to share with your string educator friends! Thank you! 

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…

For those of you who like the convenience of downloading and printing sheet music, I have several selections from my catalog available on Sheet Music Plus. 

What all is available here? I'm glad you asked! 

Choral Music 
I Lay My Sins on Jesus (SATB and Piano)
If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking (SATB a capella)
Love's Philosophy (SATB and Piano)
Now I Give Myself to Thee (SATB, Flute and Piano)
O, For a Closer Walk with God (SATB a capella)
Prayer of St. Gregory (SAB a capella)
Psalm of Praise (SATB, Trumpet,…

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…