AOP First Glimpse Videos

In 2019-21, I was fortunate enough to participate in the American Opera Project’s Composers and the Voice program. As part of the program, Fellows wrote songs for six resident singers that were workshopped, and then a sampling were to be performed in May 2020. Given the pause on live performances due to COVID-19, that concert was not to be. But, AOP rose to the challenge and made superb video recordings of the selected pieces. Those videos are now available to watch for free on AOP TV.

These include performances of three songs that I wrote:

“Medusa’s Nightmare” from the in-progress opera Protectress (libretto by Kendra Preston Leonard)
Augusta Caso, mezzo-soprano and Mila Henry, piano

Cider with text by Amanda Hollander
Timothy Stoddard, tenor and Kelly Horsted, piano

Idyll with text by Siegfried Sassoon
Brandon Coleman, bass-baritone and Lisa Edwards, piano

I hope you’ll take a listen to these as well as the pieces by my fantastic colleagues and friends! Cider and “Medusa’s Nightmare” aren’t in the e-store yet, but if you’re interested in getting the music, reach out!

New Video of “Epilogue”

DechoVoce (Katherine Petersen, voice and Jacob Swanson, sax) recently recorded “Epilogue” and included in on their December 2021 recitals. I really appreciate them making this beautiful recording and wanted to share it with you! They also have a live recording posted to their YouTube channel, along with other music by some wonderful composers. Follow them for more exciting sax repertoire!

Dangerous Coats added to E-store!

Dangerous Coats was written in 2020 for Joshua Thomas’s Smart Repertoire project. Thomas and a consortium of 49 saxophonists commissioned this work for baritone saxophone and piano, which is intended for the developing saxophonist. Now that the period of exclusivity is over, the work is available in my e-store.

If you’d like to take a listen, here’s a video Thomas recorded of the work to present as part of the International Conference for Saxophone Pedagogy and Performance in 2021.

Joshua Thomas performing Dangerous Coats

Ensemble for These (Summer) Times

The Ensemble for These Times has released the last installment of their online summer listening series, “Ensemble for These (Summer) Times.” This fourth program features music by composers who will be included in their upcoming 2020-21 season—and I am happy to be one of them!

A full season announcement is coming soon, but until then enjoy the video below. You can read the concert program here. An excerpt of “Times of Speaking and Silence” starts at 10:36!

New Work Alert! A Forest that is a Desert

A Forest that is a Desert for a cappella SATB choir is now available on the e-store! This three-movement work sets new poetry by Kendra Preston Leonard about caring for a parent suffering from dementia. It was commissioned by the Choral Arts Initiative for their 2019 PREMIERE|Project Festival, where they premiered movements I and III. A video of the performance can be seen below.

Countdown to “Iseult Speaks” Premiere!

Recital_Feb2016-2In preparation for the premiere of Iseult Speaks on 2/20 by Charity Clark and the Hartford Independent Chamber Orchestra,  I’ll be posting a new recording from the piano reduction each day.  Nine of the thirteen movements were previewed by Charity with pianist Blake Hansen at my recital on 2/5/16, and the recordings will be posted to the playlist below.  Follow me on social media to see announcements when new tracks are added, or listen to the full set of preview recordings here after Friday 2/19.  Then, if you’re near Hartford, come check out the premiere of the chamber orchestra version on 2/20!

New Recording Posted: “Twisted Blue”

Recital_Feb2016-1 A complete recording of Twisted Blue (in the clarinet and piano version) is now available!  Alex Kollias and Elisabeth Tomczyk premiered the three-movement work on Feb. 5, 2016 as part of a composition recital I gave at the Hartt School.  The recital also included preview performances of Iseult Speaks (to be premiered by the Hartford Independent Chamber Orchestra on Feb. 20, 2016) and Step No. 4: Know the Tuba Attitude (premiere TBA later this spring).  Dr. Daniel D’Addio reprised My Father Was a Ventriloquist as well.  Stay tuned for additional recital recordings coming soon!

New Recording Posted: “Thought”

The Riot Ensemble LogoThis past fall, the London-based Riot Ensemble commissioned me to create a work for soprano, alto flute, harpsichord, and two percussionists as part of their 2015 Call for Scores.  The resulting work, Thought, was premiered in London on Nov. 17, 2015.  The work is a meditation on Walt Whitman’s eponymous text, featuring extended techniques and spoken parts for the instrumentalists.

Recent Recordings/Publications

It’s been a busy year for recordings and publications! This past spring, Parma Recordings released my solo percussion work St. Teresa in Ecstasy (performed by Mike Lunoe) on their Parma Music Festival Live 2013 digital album.  The collection is available through iTunes here.  This summer, The Society of Composers, Inc. released their fiftieth volume of the Journal of Scores, which includes my First Praise alongside the music of 7 fantastic composers.  This fall/winter, a review I wrote of Jennifer Kelly’s collection of interviews In Her Own Words: Conversations with Composers in the United States will be published in the journal Women and Music: a Journal of Gender and Culture.  I’ll be posting a brief excerpt from this review soon, but for anyone who might be interested: Kelly’s book is a great collection of interviews with a diverse group of female composers, and I highly recommend it!