Grade 1-2 Compositions

Dragonflight is an original composition aimed for 7th-8th grade band, particularly ones with a strong trumpet and alto sax section. The idea for this piece came from the joke that all cool band songs have "Dragon" or "Dark" in the name, so I tried to make a Dragon-themed piece that was a little less dark and dissonant. It is less on the side of happy and whimsical, and more so majestic and powerful. This piece has several loud, powerful moments, both in the fast and lyrical sections, and uses a combination of medieval-style minor pentatonic and modern takes on minor.

Go the Distance was originally composed for the Disney movie Hercules by Alan Menken, with lyrics from David Zippel, and first sung by Roger Bart. It is a tale of setting your own destiny, and working as hard as it takes to make your dreams come true. This arrangement takes the incredible full orchestra original composition and brings it into Concert Band instrumentation. 

 Septimus is an original composition for beginning Concert Band, intended for about a 6th grade ensemble. The goal of this piece was to create an exciting piece in 7/8 that would be easily accessible for beginners. The wind parts use only 6 pitches (concert C, D, E♭, F, G, and A♭), with some optional upper octave notes. The percussion parts are accessible for a beginning percussionist, including a mallet part that is not a direct copy of any individual wind part. Every section plays the main melody at least one time throughout the piece.