A Real Buster is a multimedia work for tenor saxophone, live electronics, and video that reflects on Buster Keaton’s legacy as a comic actor and as a filmmaker. The name Buster, given to him by Harry Houdini, referred to his extreme resilience to pain, which is manifest in his dangerous stunts featured in his movies.
To be premiered at the Kairos Multimeda Concert on April 2, 2024 by Drew Hosler at the Shoolroy Theatre, College of Wooster.
In honor of the first Celebration for Creators and Scholars at The College of Wooster, Five Wooster Miniatures celebrates unique aspects of the campus culture. The piece was written for Clarinet in B-flat.
I. Black Squirrels
II. The Arch
III. Scottie Dog
IV. Senior I. S. (A Lesson in Procrastination)
V. Tartan Farewell
Premiered March 1, 2024 at the Celebration for Creators and Scholars by Dylan Findley at The College of Wooster.
Figurings takes inspiration from character-based written languages. The individual characters have their own pronunciations and several meanings, yet they combine to form nuanced words within a grammatical structure. To write the piece, I designed a pictographic notation of various multi-faceted musical figures. The music “figures out” these sonic characters as one might learn a sentence in a foreign language. Each syllable is pronounced and then combines with another to form musical words. As the piece progresses, stretched and sustained words contrast metered iterations, all in counterpoint with inevitable silences.
A special thanks to clarinetist Calvin Falwell and the McCormick Percussion Group under the direction of Kevin Von Kampen for preparing and premiering this unconventional work.
Premiered October 25, 2023 at the University of South Florida.
Commissioned by and written for Ting Luo for the New Arts Collaboration, Cosmic Cliffs finds inspiration in and uses imagery from NASA’s James Webb Telescope. This multimedia work for piano and interactive media features electronic sound and video that reacts to the performer and allows for the performer to explore the sonic landscapes in points of rest in the piano part. The work is built around the overtone series, the foundation of timbre, representing the powerful filtering process that allows the telescope to block out unwanted light to capture events millions of light years away in stunning brilliance.
Premiered by Ting Luo on May 19, 2023 at Old First Concerts, San Francisco, CA.
Clarinet Pieces is a comedy piece for clarinet and piano, written for the College of Wooster Parody Recital. The performer performs with the mouthpiece attached to the lower joint, to the bell (loosely held), and with the upper and lower joint simultaneously (two mouthpieces). Other theatrics including interchange between the pianist and clarinetist are involved.
Premiered by Dylan Findley and Toni Shreve, Gault Recital Hall, April 15, 2023.
Written for Galán Trio’s Kinesis project, Ánimo betrays the theme of kinetic energy with a focus on potential energy. The word ánimo became a favorite word of mine while in Nicaragua from 2010 to 2012. The Spanish word might be defined as spiritual energy or enthusiasm manifest in courage, faith, and hope. After the loss of three grandparents over the past few years, my ánimo has found new meaning as I have focused on building family relationships. Woven into the piece is a fragment from a religious children’s song “Families Can Be Together Forever” that teaches that family bonds will continue after death. The music hobbles through nostalgia, excitement, warmth, yearning, and questioning before mustering final courage that quickly evaporates into the same promising sparkle of hope that begins the piece. The work is dedicated to my grandparents who have passed on, who instilled ánimo into me with their compassion and care.
Premiered by Galán Trio as part of their Midwest Kinesis Tour in November 2022:
November 1, Mairs Concert Hall, Macalester College, St. Paul, MN.
November 3, Lloyd Ultan Recital Hall, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
November 4, Jenson-Noble Hall of Music, Luther College, Decorah, IA.
November 5, Nola Starling Recital Hall, Viterbo University, La Crosse, WI.
November 7, Duesenberg Recital Hall, Valparaiso State University, Valparaiso, IN.
November 8, Boyce Recital Hall, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN.
November 9, Fine Arts Recital Hall, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL.
Co-written and premiered with Csaba Jevtic-Somlai, Race in Space! contemplates the experience of private space travel. The music is both sprightly and explorative with clear melodies and tonal bouts blended with growling, multiphonics, bends, scoops, glissandi, and even reconstructions and additions to the clarinet. Electronic interludes based on NASA footage frame the launch and landing movements.
Movements
Preparations
Liftoff
Leaving the Atmosphere
In Outer Space
Splash Landing!
Premiered by Csaba Jevtic-Somlai and Dylan Findley on June 29th, 2022 at the annual International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest, Reno, NV.
At the onset of the 2020-2021 pandemic, I found myself, along with many others, on social media more than ever before. Ironically, the time online did not fill my social void. I felt anxious, discouraged, and hooked to every social and political issue. If only I knew earlier that I was playing with fire! The artificial intelligence keeps people online through endless information and the yearning for replies and reactions. It has also been the hotbed of conspiracy theories and misinformation that have led to hate towards already marginalized groups and even terrible acts of violence. With such forces in play, how can one get to know the real you?
In i2i, the two performers (each a capital I) attempt to connect, but they compete with the aggressive electronics. Only when they see through the games of the electronics are they able to overcome its influence. In other words, the individual “I” steps down (lowercase “i”) to arrive at a unison (a2). Only by interacting directly and not through the filters of media are they able to see eye to eye.
Premiered July 15, 2021 at the International Trombone Festival by Russ Zokaites and Nathan Mensink.
Commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University
Lo! contemplates a path towards peace amid tumultuous times. The year 2020 will be remembered primarily for its pandemic and the equally disheartening voices of confusion and contention that offer quick cures, people and nations to blame, compromised statistics, and other conspiracies. More intense feelings came from the death of George Floyd and subsequent protests including riots against police brutality and continued systemic and personal racism. All this heralds a controversial presidential election that has politicized these ongoing events. The music represents this noise with… noise. Old advertisements and game shows, moody string quartet music, and synthesizers create a whirlwind of grit and chaos.
In stark contrast, the year 2020 also marks a year of celebration for Latter-day Saints, the Bicentennial of the First Vision, during which God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to the prophet Joseph Smith. The 14-year old farm boy questioned the state of his soul and pled to the Lord concerning his salvation. He was saved from darkness because he had put faith in his Redeemer and acted upon it. In great noise we, like him, can find answers to prayers and feel peace. The trumpet music weaves hymn tune fragments as respite to the frenzied sounds. As the electronics give way to consonance, the trumpet performs over just-intoned electronics over a fundamental pitch, representing purity through a connection to heaven.
This project was made possible through the groundwork done by the Prelinger Archives and the Internet Archive. Special thanks are also warranted to Erin Jossie for her help filming, and Erin and Michael Findley for their help editing and finessing the video component.
For information on future performances and the background of the work, visit this page dedicated to the project.
Interested in performing this work? The score is available for purchase below, and the electronic audio component (stereo fixed media with visual cues operated through Max/MSP) is available for those who plan to perform the piece live (I’ll be in touch about that!). Read about the video component below.
While this piece can be played without the video, the video component adds important context to the work, including the faces and translated words of those who tell their stories. However, the video of The Story of Our Journey is owned by non-profit advocacy organization Their Story is Our Story. Please contact them to make arrangements for the video to be projected during performance.
Performances/Showings to Date:
April 14, 2023- Live performance at the College of Wooster for the Their Story is Our Story residency Displacement Today in Wooster, OH. Performed by Csaba Jevtic-Somlai.
February 21, 2022- Live performance of movements 2 and 3 at the Worlds Within the One recital at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in La Crosse, WI. Performed by Dylan Findley.
November 19, 2021- Live performance at the Glendale Civic Center in Glendale, AZ. Sponsored by the City of Glendale Office of Arts and Culture through their Performing Arts Grant Program. Performed by Csaba Jevtic-Somlai.
November 5, 2021- Live performance at the Glendale Ampitheater in Glendale, AZ. Sponsored by the City of Glendale Office of Arts and Culture through their Performing Arts Grant Program. Performed by Csaba Jevtic-Somlai.
October 23, 2021- Live performance at the Millcreek Library in Salt Lake City. Performed by Csaba Jevtic-Somlai.
October 21, 2021- Live performance at Brigham Young University as part of Their Story is Our Story’s residency. Performed by Csaba Jevtic-Somlai.
June 20, 2021- Online showing through Washington D.C.-based organization Sunset Run for Refugees (World Refugee Day).
June 18, 2021- Live excerpts performed at World Refugee Day activities in Salt Lake City, UT.
March 19, 2021- Online showing #2 through City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture
January 22, 2021- Online showing through the City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture
December 5, 2020- Online video “European premiere,” followed by panel discussion with TSOS Europe representative.
October 16, 2020- Online video premiere, followed by panel discussion with TSOS Phoenix area representative.
The solitude during the COVID-19 quarantine draws me to the incidental sounds of everyday life, both those of nature and those we have imposed upon our sonic environment. In the spirit of John Cage or Brian Eno, Music for Earbuds accompanies rather than distracts from the soft sonic stirrings around the listener during daily tasks. Electronic music from earbuds frames ambient sounds through contrasts of soft melodic gestures, processed intimate natural and mechanical sound samples, and complete silence. By gently drawing attention to soft, processed and synthesized sounds, intermittent silences invite the listener to experience the ambient music already in motion.
Commissioned by the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts for their Art for Uncertain Times project.
Virtual premiere, June 2020.
Improvisations I: MicroTunes is a structured improvisation or “half-composed” piece for soloist of any instrumentation and live electronics. This improvisation explores different detuned scales and microtonal harmonies. The music challenges the performer to navigate the dormant structures built into the electronics and poses questions about the liminality between composition and improvisation. This is the most recent addition to a larger Improvisations series. See the following links for further examples:
Improvisations IV: An Appeal to the [SOUND] Masses
Improvisations V: Two-Track Mind
Improvisations 5.2: Two Tracks for Two Minds (free electronics with laptop performer)
Improvisations VI: Just, Plane, Natural
Written for and in collaboration with Eric Giles
November 21, 2019 by Eric Giles, White Recital Hall, UMKC, KCMO.
I Go a Fishing voyages away from the spectacle and fanfare of a bright, bombastic major sonority to arrive at an eerie harmonic world. Out foggy dissonances arrives a quick section that builds towards the return of a major chord, a tritone away from the opening, that settles a half step below.
In some cases, we all are like the biblical Peter, who after seeing countless miracles until even the Risen God Himself, finds himself drifting back towards his former habits, proclaiming, “I go a fishing.” Whether by a net overflowing with fishes or by a strict admonition to “Feed my sheep,” we learn that the privileges and opportunities we receive carry a responsibility to others that both will challenge us and will yield a greater sense of purpose, livelihood, and peace if fulfilled. (John 21)
Commissioned by the São Paulo Contemporary Composers Festival Orchestra Commissioning Project for the Orquestra Sinfônica da UNICAMP
October 10, 2019 by the Orquestra Sinfônica da UNICAMP at the Auditorio de Ciencias Médicas, Universidade de Campinas, Campinas, Brazil.
Written for Alexandre Ribiero, Courtly Dance takes a contemporary view of the stylized dance forms popular in the 16th and 17th centuries, such as the Allemande, Canario, Minuet and Trio, and Galliard. Rather than imitate the style of one of these dances, the music moves to its own step in frequent meter changes and juxtaposed themes. Open string clusters are prominent throughout what could be the middle section of the piece (most reminiscent of a Trio section). The A section features mostly duple meters and stitched repeated fragments while the B section introduces a longer, lyrical melody in contrast.
October 5, 2019 by Alexandre Ribeiro at the Catedral de Sé, São Paulo, Brazil.
A Statement and the Sound for group of performers and PowerPoint presentation deliberates the aesthetics of music in a nuanced and lively pre-recorded lecture on aesthetics. Some completely (un)intentional glitches might still need to be worked out…
June 17, 2019 by Mnemosyne Quartet, UMKC Composition Workshop, White Recital Hall, White Recital Hall at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, KCMO.
In working with choreographer Sophie Henning, we explored the idea of an existing but uncurable and unidentified medical trauma that induces pain and paralysis. The music drifts from this paralysis to feelings of hope that comfort but ultimately do not solve the severe and debilitating medical condition.
May 14, 2019 by the UMKC Dance Department, Petal by Petal , The Mulberry Room, KCMO.
Tektōn, the etymological basis of the word tectonic, is the Greek word for carpenter or builder. The jagged nature that begins the work mixes with more flowing sections that brought to mind the formation of volcanoes through massive force and molten rock, due largely to underlying action in tectonic plates. However, the word “tektōn” suggests an overarching craftsmanship to such chaotic landmarks, paralleling the construction and contrast between the erratic and the ordered in this piece.
April 9, 2019 by the UMKC Sax Choir for the 2019 UMKC Co[mp]llaboration at Californos, KCMO.
Le Danse de Oberon is a companion piece to Debussy’s “Le Danse de Puck” in his Preludes, Book I. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Puck wreaks havoc under the auspices of Oberon, husband to Titania, the queen of the fairies. The horn call motive in Debussy’s prelude alludes to Oberon, and my prelude begins with the same call. Despite his royal stature, Oberon’s anger at his wife leads him to seek revenge. The conflict between Oberon and Titania, two powerful mystical beings, intensifies the weather—changing seasons and unsettling the sea. My dance features a flustered nobility, where stately sounds stumble to give way for more comic sonorities. The work pulls from “Le Danse de Puck” in some of its harmonic vocabulary, rhythms, and the horn-call motif; however, Le Danse de Oberon features a more aggressive, earthy style to contrast Puck’s weightless image.
March 17, 2019 by Allison Moline for the 2019 UMKC Piano Studio Co[mp]llaboration
White Recital Hall, University of Missouri-Kansas City, KCMO.
March 31, 2019 by Allison Moline for the 2019 UMKC Piano Studio Co[mp]llaboration
Kansas City Public Library, KCMO.
BINGO is a highly complex work featuring five musicians and three procedural operators. The procedural operators work through various strategies involving sophisticated formulas to determine the aural boundaries essential to the cohesive dynamism among the ensemble members. Despite the piece title, this work must not be interpreted to be a game of any sort.
Performances
March 14, 2019 by Seth Davis, John Dragoo, Austin Engelhardt, Joseph Gonzalez, Miguel Silva-Leon, Dylan Findley, Jacob Frisbie, and David Witter for Classical Revolution
Californos, KCMO.
Andando begins quickly and gradually decelerates through metric modulations in “Que yo quiero llegar tardando” (“For I want to arrive late”). This movement retreats from the busyness of everyday life into the solitude of nature at sundown.
“Mi corazón ya es remanso” (“My heart is already at peace”) opens in stasis. This lyrical movement first traces a modal melody, then it swells passionately to a strong, yearning climax, depicting the faithful tears the poet leaves behind.
“Dar mi alma a cada grano” (“To give my soul to each grain”) acts as a coda to the work. Melodic notes are decorated with extended runs, freely made from past material. The work ends with a recollection of the second movement, ending in peace.
Andando was written for and premiered by Regina Tanujaya at her recital concert, Poems and Pictures.
Andando
Andando, andando.
Que quiero oír cada grano
de la arena que voy pisando.
Andando.
Dejad atrás los caballos,
que yo quiero llegar tardando
(andando, andando)
dar mi alma a cada grano
de la tierra que voy rozando.
Andando, andando.
¡Qué dulce entrada en mi campo,
noche inmensa que vas bajando!
Andando.
Mi corazón ya es remanso;
ya soy lo que me está esperando
(andando, andando)
y mi pie parece, cálido,
que me va el corazón besando.
Andando, andando.
¡Que quiero ver el fiel llanto
del camino que voy dejando!
Juan Ramón Jiménez
Walking
Walking, walking.
How I want to hear each grain
of the sand I tread upon.
Walking.
Leave behind the horses,
for I want to arrive late
(walking, walking)
to give my soul to each grain
of the earth my feet graze.
Walking, walking.
How sweet to enter my field,
An expansive nightfall descends!
Walking.
My heart is already at peace;
I am the only one I expect
(walking, walking)
and my foot seems, burning,
as if continually kissing my heart.
Walking, walking
How I want to see the faithful tears
of the path I leave behind!
(Translated by the composer)
December 1st, 2018 by Regina Tanujaya for her “Poem and Pictures” Recital at White Recital Hall, University of Kansas City-Missouri, KCMO.