SIGHTLINE
Sightline for tuba and piano was written as a gift for my longtime close friend, Scott Mendoker. The three movement work completed in October 2017 is intended to add to the tuba recital literature with a piece that is certainly challenging but well within the capabilities of so many extraordinary performers existing today. All instrumental capabilities improve with time but I think I have witnessed a greater surge of outstanding tubists than any other instrument. Scott Mendoker is one of those performers. To summarize the three movements, 1. Blink is a stroll with an occasional pause, 2. Soul-window is a look inward while 3. Stare is a mad dash.
STILL
Still for Brass Quintet was commissioned by and written for the Gaudete Brass Quintet. The premiere occurred on October 25, 2013, during the live broadcast of Backstage Pass hosted by Julia Figueras at the NPR Station WXXI in Rochester, New York. The intent of the work is simple: aurally depict the first stages of meditation with the quieting of the mind followed by timeless restfulness. Feel free to close your eyes, allow your breathing to become slower, and let your thoughts come and go at will.
LIKE THE RISEN GRAIN
CHICAGO MOVES
I wrote Chicago Moves for Gaudete Brass in 2011. The piece is in four movements, each of which showcases an aspect of life in Chicago, represented by a place or landmark. The piece is a melange of third stream (i.e., between classical and jazz) style melodies overlaid onto an almost minimalist groove that is passed between the instruments. It makes extensive use of mutes, flügelhorns, and interconnected lines to produce colors more like those of a string quartet or vocal choir than those typically associated with brass instruments. The work was commissioned for Gaudete Brass by Giddings and Webster Mouthpieces, The Venzon Family, Earl and Judy Baxtresser, and the Chicago Modern Brass Project.