Please see below for samples of my compositions and arrangements:

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cold stability

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The Harrison Modes (2019)

Score Available through Tapspace Publications

I have always been especially fond of the percussion music of Lou Harrison; a truly fearless composer who sought to express his own voice and
did so with vigor. Among the contributions we generally attribute to him, including the influence of southeast Asian cultures and musics and
their instruments (particularly the use of Javanese gamelan sounds and styles), as well as the constant and varied use of “found objects” in his
compositions, he also stands out as an ardent proponent of the use of just intonation over the more common equal temperament.
In his treatise, “Music Primer,” Harrison expounds at length upon the virtues of just intonation over equal temperament, and this preference
shows up widely throughout his compositions, often requiring musicians to build specific instruments for his pieces in order to achieve the
proper tunings. The intervals within a just intoned scale are based on ratios, and their discovery goes back to Pythagoras. The perfect fifth in
this tuning system is considered to be at a higher level of purity than that of equal temperament.

In addition, Harrison identifies four pentatonic modes, on which he relied heavily in his own compositions. The four modes are:

1 – b3 – 4 – 5 – b7 – i
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1 – 2 – b3 – 5 – b6 – i
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1 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 7 – i
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1 – 2 – 4 – 5 – b7 – i

The modes appear throughout The Harrison Modes as landmarks which delineate the four main sections of the piece.

The percussion parts alternate between something of an homage to Harrison’s rhythmic ideas (in particular, those of his Song of Quetzalcoatl),
and poly-rhythmic ideas based on the ratios represented by the intervals in each mode: 3/2, 4/3, and 5/4.

 

Scherzo Nocturno (2015)

 This marimba quartet is drawn from “Sonata Serrana No. 1,” a piano sonata for four hands by Gabriela Lena Frank.  I was fortunate to perform her marimba duo with Third Angle New Music in 2014, and upon hearing a performance of the piano work, I was inspired to create a marimba quartet version.  She was gracious enough to give me permission to do so.  The performance below was given by my quartet, the Portland Percussion Group.

 

 

Sevilla (2010)

I created this arrangement of Isaac Albeniz’s “Sevilla” for the Union High School Percussion Ensemble, to be premiered at the 2010 Midwest Clinic.  The arrangement was subsequently published by Tapspace Publications.

 

 

Miorbhail (2016)

Commissioned by Mark Claassen for the Union High School Percussion Ensemble in 2016.

This work utilizes a number of traditional Gaelic folk songs and lullabies along with Bodhran rhythms as inspiration.

 

 

The Stone Prisoners (2015)

This work was commissioned by Mark Claassen for the Union High School Percussion Ensemble in 2015.  This performance was awarded first place in the Washington State Large Percussion Ensemble Contest.

In the summer of 2012, my wife and I took our honeymoon to various locations in Italy after being married in the coastal Ligurian town of La Spezia.  During our trip to Florence, we made a visit to the Galleria dell’Accademia, ostensibly to see the infamous David for the first time.  While the David certainly stole the show as we proceeded through the museum, another collection of Michelangelo’’s work caught my eye.  The four marble statues coined “The Stone Prisoners” by scholars are a part of what comprises Michelangelo’s so-called incomplete works, in which he aimed to illustrate the struggle of man to free the spirit from physical matter.

            The striking nature of the statues inspired the concept for this piece.  In total there are four Stone Prisoners at the Accademia.  They have been named by scholars The Awakening Slave, The Young Slave, The Bearded Slave and The Atlas (or Bound).  These four characters loosely inform the structure of the piece in aesthetic quality and intent and form the basis for its four-part structure. 

Limberlost (2017)

Commissioned by Mark Claassen for the Union High School Percussion Ensemble.  This performance was awarded first place in the Washington State High School Large Percussion Ensemble Contest in April 2017.

“Limberlost” is a fantasy in four sections, inspired by the natural beauty and mystical surroundings of the Sahalie Falls in the Cascade mountain range outside of Eugene, Oregon.  The four sections are entitled:

1. Forest Whispers
2. Ember Glow
3. Frigid Silhouette
4. Sahalie Falling

 

 

Embellished (2013)

Commissioned by Lewis Norfleet for the Union High School Percussion Ensemble.  This performance was awarded first place in the Washington State High School Large Percussion Ensemble Contest in April of 2013.

The pitch material for this piece is derived entirely from the set of almglocken which sound the opening theme, arranged in the octatonic scale.  References to various kinds of bells resonate throughout the piece, some subtle and some overt, which in turn inform its structural organization.