Compositions

C Minor, F Minor          4/4          4:30

Spirit of Adventure is the tale of a grand and exciting adventure across the land, with many trials and tribulations along the way. It draws inspiration from many of the great stories in literature, such The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and the Percy Jackson series (a favorite of my students). In particular, it focuses on how these stories evolve over time, forever changing the characters as they navigate the world around them. Musically, there are several motifs throughout the piece, which are constantly changing and evolving until they form something entirely new. This piece embodies adventures real and fantastical, and brings both the audience and performers along for a journey that will change them forever. 

G Harmonic Minor          7/8          4:00

Ghost Dances tells the tales of how ghosts and spirits spend their time when none of the living are watching. It is an eerie, energetic, dark, and in its own strange way, joyous piece. The piece includes three dances, each with their own unique style and flair, but all from the same world. The first dance is an introduction, bringing the ghosts together and setting the stage for the dancing to come. The second dance is a waltz, but with a ghostly twist, flowing both evenly and unevenly at the same time. Driving percussion leads into the third dance, which is a fast paced and dramatic rush as the energy builds. Finally, all the ghosts join in at once for the big finale. Complex percussion, haunting solos, and unique melodies throughout give this piece its ghostly flair. 

D Minor          4/4          4:15

Corsair evokes the image of a Pirate out at Sea. The scene starts with the breathtaking view of a majestic ship, followed by the excitement of the start of an adventure. The ship picks up speed, until it encounters an enemy ship and enters into a fast paced battle. Trumpets soar above the band as the Corsair is victorious. Next the music shifts to the tranquility of a calm ocean at night, lit only by the moon. The ocean is never truly still, and similarly the music rises and falls in an ever changing cycle. The waves become stronger as dawn breaks, as the ship rises and falls with them as they grow into a majestic sunrise. As the new day begins, the excitement of the first returns with new layers joining the fray. The piece ends as the ship sails off the distance, off to another adventure. 

A Minor/F Lydian          6/8          4:30

A concert band arrangement of Run To You by Pentatonix. Run To You is originally from Pentatonix’s PTX, Vol. II Album, and is one of their first original songs. It is written in beautiful 5-part harmony, with artful dissonance throughout. I have always enjoyed acapella, particularly when performed at a very high level, and this song exemplifies that to the fullest. While arranging the music, I was able to analyze the arrangement, and understand some of what makes it sound so unique. In particular, the melody is always one of the middle voices, allowing the harmonies to either open up or become dense independently both above and below the melody. 

C Minor          4/4          3:30

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.

C Minor          7/8          2:15

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.