What a fulfilling and refreshing past few days! My first experience at the International Trumpet Guild Conference was nothing short of terrific.  I met some wonderful performers, teachers, composers, and even an old Bears fan from Iowa! There were high school musicians, retired musicians, and everything in between. I heard some great new classical music, and some glorious jazz improvisation. 

Most of all, it was great to spend time with my high school buddy, Dr. Chris O'Hara, who premiered my new piece, Dead…

For a couple years, I did a podcast called "The Meatball Composer," where I would talk about things that were particularly interesting to me, mostly Bears football! Well, the show has been retooled, and I am now co-hosting the "Bearly Educated Podcast" with my friend Mark Janzen. We're 5 episodes in, and we're having a blast! The hook is that we are two college professors with doctorates, taking a more analytical and philosophical look at sports. 

I invite you to check it out, especially if you're a Chicago…

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…

It's official! as of August 1st, my family and I are Kansas residents! This was a year in the making, a stressful and difficult year. I moved by myself last fall to begin my new position at Tabor College. I saw my family every few weeks, and it was very tough to be apart from them for so long. Then COVID hit, and I don't need to go in to details about that...

So anyway, I'm so happy that my family is finally all together once again, and for good, and we are renting a lovely house in Newton, Kansas. No one…

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…

For the past year and a half, I was running a podcast, "The Meatball Composer," just for fun while trying to improve my verbal communication skills. I decided to move it to a video format, and I've completed the first two episodes. You can access the YouTube playlist here.

Thanks, and please feel free to share and to tell your friends!

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…