WIND INSTRUMENT
Asterisks (*) denote ensemble types that include more pieces than shown on this website. For inquiries about pieces that are not shown, please visit the commission form.
CONCERT ENSEMBLES*
My special-needs sister hates storms, so she will repeatedly sing "Rain, Rain, Go Away" to make herself feel better. I find the melody sad, so I switched some melodic intervals and obtained this melody. A storm came after I experienced a traumatic event, and I was drawn outside by a lavender and gold sky. I saw a bright double rainbow, and I was overwhelmed with peace, standing in the rain. This piece reminds me that the sun always shines after a storm. The piano addition to a symphonic band piece emphasizes raindrops, the original title of this piece. Harmony and pitch recreate the emotional pulls that weather, and unexpected events, can have on a person.
This piece is a theme and variations on the melody of "Amazing Grace", dedicated to my friend's sister who passed away from late stage cancer in April 2020. I worked in a cancer lab for most of 2020 and 2021, so stories about cancer touch my heart. I noticed that the young woman touched many lives around Nebraska in her lifetime. With the permission of her family, I chose to let her memory live on in this piece. The variations of the "Amazing Grace" melody mimic the highs and the lows of life through modes and irregular time signatures. All proceeds from future performances of this work will be donated to cancer research.
WOODWIND ENSEMBLES*
After dealing with their unacceptable behaviors for several months, I decided it was my turn to make fun of my roommates in a tale of good vs. evil. Satan was named for her desire to watch the situation burn, and the pageant queen used her beauty to get what she wanted. The overall story is a dance involving the two, swirling around me to make my life miserable, only for the dance to become more demented and fragile before hitting a brick wall. All of this is characterized by the “breaking apart” of the music starting about halfway into the piece through the end. This piece has jazz and funk influences.
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World Premiere: Composition Recital, Lincoln, NE, April 2021
WOODWIND SOLOS*
Movement 1 - When the Night Dawned
This movement contains multiple key and time signature changes that represent the changing colors of a sunset, and the different emotions I felt when talking to the person.
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World Premiere: Composition Recital, Lincoln, NE, April 2021
BRASS ENSEMBLES
Melancolie is defined as a pensive sadness that occurs with no cause. This piece first expresses a melancholy feeling by presenting an Americana-sounding chorale that mimics an Aaron Copland piece. Almost suddenly, the mood changes to a more energetic and frenzied tone, with laughs and whinnies from the trumpets to convey frightening sounds. Almost as quickly as it began, the energetic section fades back into a more developed Americana section that ends the piece.
BRASS SOLOS*
Paralian is defined as someone who lives by the sea, or a member of an ancient Greek people who lived by the Athenian coast. I was inspired to write this piece as I was watching the sunset over Lake Okoboji, where I spend my summers at my lake house. The rolls in the piano are symbolic of the crashing waves, and the smooth key changes are reminiscent of the calmness of the water.
This is one of the few pieces I have written that had no inspiration behind it. I wrote this three movement concerto in about 36 hours for a rapidly-approaching International Trumpet Guild concerto competition that I was not selected for. Nevertheless, I still love this piece. The first movement of the concerto is shown above.
I Won't Let This Be Goodbye - 2018
I wrote this brass quartet after I met a good friend in one of the music ensembles I was in. Both of us study difficult majors, and I thought that our busy schedules would prevent us from seeing each other after the fall semester. I was ready to do almost anything to preserve our friendship, and fortunately we have been able to remain friends to this day. I wrote this piece in a way that sounds like it is pleading and begging with the listener to stay until it sweetly and soundly cadences.
World Premiere: Flyover New Music Series, Lincoln, NE, April 2019
Melancolie - 2020
Paralian - 2020
Trumpet Concerto No. 1 - 2019
I Told the Stars About You - 2020
World Premiere: Composition Recital, Lincoln, NE, April 2021
World Premiere: Composition Recital, Lincoln, NE, April 2021
World Premiere: Composition Recital, Lincoln, NE, April 2021
This three movement oboe sonata was written about someone I met in the Cornhusker Marching Band who had a dark, model-in-a-cologne-advertisement aura that I thought was best represented by the night time.
Satan and the Pageant Queen - 2019
Movement 2 - When I Told the Stars
This movement is the reason why I wrote this work. The oboist represents me, talking to the stars about this person, and the pianist represents the twinkling stars.
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World Premiere: Composition Recital, Lincoln, NE, April 2021
Movement 3 - When the Day Dawned This movement brings back motives first seen in the first and second movements, as a way to close the program and end a cycle of affection.
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World Premiere: Composition Recital, Lincoln, NE, April 2021
Trumpet Concerto No. 1 - 2019
This is one of the few pieces I have written that had no inspiration behind it. I wrote this three movement concerto in about 36 hours for a rapidly-approaching International Trumpet Guild concerto competition that I was not selected for. Nevertheless, I still love this piece. The second movement of the concerto is shown above.
World Premiere: Composition Recital, Lincoln, NE, April 2021
Trumpet Concerto No. 2 - 2021
In response to the success of my first trumpet concerto, I composed my second a few years later. After watching the sunset outside of my window, I realized that a lot of things in my life were coming to an end, and much like watching a sunset, I had to embrace closure and move on from what I couldn't control. As such, this piece is nicknamed, "The Sunset Concerto. This movement signifies the impatience and difficulty of moving on through various tempos, key signatures, and moods. The first movement is shown above. An orchestral version is also available.
World Premiere: Flyover New Music Series, Lincoln, NE, February 2022
Trumpet Concerto No. 2 - 2021
In response to the success of my first trumpet concerto, I composed my second a few years later. After watching the sunset outside of my window, I realized that a lot of things in my life were coming to an end, and much like watching a sunset, I had to embrace closure and move on from what I couldn't control. As such, this piece is nicknamed, "The Sunset Concerto. This movement uses musical techniques that are present in one of my favorite Taylor Swift songs "happiness". In using these techniques, a more effective form of closure is realized. The first movement is shown above. An orchestral version is also available.
World Premiere: Flyover New Music Series, Lincoln, NE, April 2022