Music for the New Year

Just in time for 2009, I've posted Ecstatic Waters on my Facebook page. Perusal score coming soon.

And if that's not enough for you, Salamander Studios has posted TWO new songs, Don't Get Angry and Mouth for your new year celebrations. Recorded last May, they're finally seeing the light of day. Details about each song are available on Salamander Studios' MySpace page, as well.

Happy and Healthy 2009 to you all!

Suite Dreams wins the 2008 NBA William D. Revelli Award!

It is with great pleasure, surprise, and a smidgen of disbelief, that I announce that Suite Dreams has won the 2008 National Band Association / William D. Revelli Compostion Contest!

Midwest 2008!

I'm in Chicago this week for the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. On Wednesday, at 1:00pm, the Penn High School Symphonic Band will be performing Radiant Joy. And on Thursday at 11:30am, the Lockport Township High School Wind Symphony will premiere Eric's Libertas Imperio for symphonic winds and electronics. I'm particularly eager to hear this in light of all my recent work on Ecstatic Waters. Lastly, the USAF Band of Flight will play a portion of my First Light on their reading session Thursday evening at 5:30.

So, if you're at the convention, please say 'hello' and I look forward to seeing you there. Also, I strongly encourage you to go by the MidEurope booth and speak with Johann, Sieglinde, or Verena Moesenbichler about their festival. Imagine Midwest, but instead of Chicago in the winter, it's in the Austrian Alps in summer...

Interview in Clarino PRINT

Zwei Komponisten - ein Ziel
"Two Composers - One Goal"

Interview with Otto M. Schwarz and myself after our workshop at MidEurope last summer. It's in German, btw. Unfortunately, you have to register to access it, but for your entertainment, here's the beginning of the interview run through Google translation.

Axis Mundi

Finished the new piece, Axis Mundi, for the Japanese Wind Ensemble Conductors Conference this past weekend. The piece is a study in intertwined opposites. Mvt. I, Apatheia, is unvaryingly soft, never rising above a p, and opens with around 80 seconds of solo marimba. Mvt. II, Hêdonê, is the opposite - relentless, ferocious, and rarely below f in volume. While I have them labeled Mvt. I and II, I envision them as working in either order, or even spaced apart on a program. They are entirely self-contained works, yet completely related - Apatheia is built entirely from a single chord progression from Hêdonê.

Soon, I hope to get back to Ecstatic Waters, and post both it and Axis Mundi here for perusal.