April 10: Robin Whirlwind Soldier Senior Recital
4-1-22: This semester I have been teaching composition virtually at the University of Minnesota-Morris as a sabbatical replacement for the indominable Wes Flinn, who is taking the spring to write an opera. It's been a pleasure to work with his student Robin Whirlwind Soldier, who will present his senior composition recital in Morris, Minnesota on Sunday, April 10, including works for piano, chorus, and chamber ensemble. Admission is free.
I'm still figuring out the details of everything, but check here for more information: https://academics.morris.umn.edu/music/concerts-and-music-events
I'm still figuring out the details of everything, but check here for more information: https://academics.morris.umn.edu/music/concerts-and-music-events
April 22: Cleveland Chamber Symphony and Verb Ballets present Martian Dances
4-1-22: Rescheduled from a performance slated for April 2020, Steven Smith will conduct the Cleveland Chamber Symphony in the world premiere of the chamber orchestra version of Martian Dances with a dance by Verb Ballets in Gamble Auditorium at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio on Friday, April 22 at 7pm. Admission is free.
More information and link to the livestream here: http://clevelandchambersymphony.org/
More information and link to the livestream here: http://clevelandchambersymphony.org/
April 24: Lakeland Civic Orchestra reprises The Lovely Soul of Lakeland
4-1-22: On April 24, 2022, the Lakeland Civic Orchestra will present a second performance of my fanfare The Lovely Soul of Lakeland. Composed and premiered in 2018 for the 50th anniversary of Lakeland Community College, which hosts the orchestra, we are returning to this piece to celebrate a successful season coming back from the COVID pandemic. The concert is a combined concert with the Lakeland Civic Band.
More information and ticket purchases here: https://www.lakelandcc.edu/arts
More information and ticket purchases here: https://www.lakelandcc.edu/arts
April 24: Sonatina for Flute at Greater Cleveland Flute Society
4-1-22: Another cancelled performance from Spring 2020 seeing its promise fulfilled! The Greater Cleveland Flute Society's Composers Connections series has featured two of my works previously: Nod a Don in 2014 and Transmissions and Transmutations (BLF) in 2018. I'm pleased to return to the program with one of my first flute pieces, 2006's Sonatina for Flute and Piano, to be performed by flutist Rae Yaeger and pianist Adam Whiting at 7pm on April 24, 2022 at the Unitarian Church in Shaker Heights. Admission is free.
More information and livestream link here: https://gcfs.org/
More information and livestream link here: https://gcfs.org/
May 6: Lakeland Civic Flute Choir plays Nod a Don
10-21-21: On May 6, 2022, the Lakeland Civic Flute Choir, under the direction of Judith Elias, will perform my 2013 piece Nod a Don. I'm very excited to have this piece on a concert of Lakeland Community College's newest civic ensemble.
More information and ticket purchases here: https://www.lakelandcc.edu/arts
More information and ticket purchases here: https://www.lakelandcc.edu/arts
May 15: Nathan Hill premieres Rule of Three in Cleveland
4-1-22: Every year I look forward to working with a young music student and their teacher on a new short work for the Cleveland Composers Guild's Creativity: Learning Through Experience project, and this year has been no exception. I've had a great time collaborating with pianist Nathan Hill and his teacher Coren Estrin Mino on Rule of Three, inspired by our mutual love of all things comical. The premiere will take place at the Cleveland Music Settlement on Sunday, May 15 at 3pm, on a concert featuring this year's crop of new works by Guild composers. Admission is free.
More information here: https://clevelandcomposers.com/
More information here: https://clevelandcomposers.com/
June 11: Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra performs Price's Adoration
4-1-22: I've had the privilege of writing and arranging music for Antoine Clark multiple times over the last few years as his career as an orchestral conductor has bloomed. In 2020, he asked me to work on Florence Price's organ composition Adoration, a short, wonderfully lyrical prelude. The result was two arrangements, one for chamber ensemble and one for small orchestra. Then, Antoine was named a 2022 MAC Music Innovator by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, a role which includes him programming and conducting a neighborhood concert by the orchestra. He asked me to make one more arrangement of the Adoration, this one for large orchestra, and the result will receive its first performance by the Cincinnati Symphony on Friday, June 11 at 7pm at Word of Deliverance Ministries in Cincinnati. Admission is free, but tickets are required.
More information here: https://www.cincinnatisymphony.org/tickets-and-events/buy-tickets/cso/2122-cso-season/mac-music-innovator-concert/
More information here: https://www.cincinnatisymphony.org/tickets-and-events/buy-tickets/cso/2122-cso-season/mac-music-innovator-concert/
Updates
7-13-21: Justine Myers, a fine oboist, gave the premiere of Essay in Teal for solo oboe on a livestream concert of the Cleveland Composers Guild in March 2021. Watch here.
7-13-21: Power Play, for solo piano, will be part of the Cleveland Composers Guild's Creativity: Learning Through Experience Concert, recorded at the Bop Stop in Cleveland in June, and slated for a virtual premiere later this year. The pianist was Paul "Pasha" Zhdankov. Watch here.
7-13-21: Power Play, for solo piano, will be part of the Cleveland Composers Guild's Creativity: Learning Through Experience Concert, recorded at the Bop Stop in Cleveland in June, and slated for a virtual premiere later this year. The pianist was Paul "Pasha" Zhdankov. Watch here.
New Works
4-1-22: I'm in the process of writing a work for Dan Crain and the Lakeland Civic Band as part of their commemoration of the life and career of their founding director, Charles Frank. It will feature a part for mezzo-soprano Heidi Skok and receive its first performance in Fall 2022.
I've also been in conversation with Heidi about a new art song work for her, possibly as part of the Cleveland Composers Guild's upcoming year dedicated to vocal music.
I've been commissioned by the Johnstone Fund for New Music as part of their collaboration with UCelli: The Columbus Cello Quartet. The work will be premiered in Fall 2023 at the Short North Stage in Columbus. I'm pleased to receive support from the Johnstone Fund again, after their funding of Moriarty's Necktie (2011) and ...into the suggestive waters... (2015).
I've also been in conversation with Heidi about a new art song work for her, possibly as part of the Cleveland Composers Guild's upcoming year dedicated to vocal music.
I've been commissioned by the Johnstone Fund for New Music as part of their collaboration with UCelli: The Columbus Cello Quartet. The work will be premiered in Fall 2023 at the Short North Stage in Columbus. I'm pleased to receive support from the Johnstone Fund again, after their funding of Moriarty's Necktie (2011) and ...into the suggestive waters... (2015).
On the horizon...
4-1-21: I have been emailing with George Carr about a possible new work for the Cleveland Trombone Collective--I can't quite believe that I've never written a piece for a bunch of trombones and no one else! Perhaps something will come of that! Some other pieces I've been thinking about include a cycle of pieces about a year in the life of Lake Erie, inspired by Tchaikovsky's The Seasons; a Carmen fantasy for baritone saxophone; and a second piano sonata.
