News and Performances
The music that I have chosen for my news page is the second movement from my brass quintet,
Desert Light. Click on the arrow to hear it if it's not already playing.
2024 SUMMER/FALL EVENTS
April 1-3: I will return to New London, Connecticut for rehearsals and recording session with US Coast Guard Band. The band's harpist, Megan Sesma, will be the featured soloist in my work titled Spring Rain. Megan commissioned the piece and premiered it last October with the USCGB.
April 9 - 10: The US Coast Guard Band will record my Rossiniana, an arrangement for woodwind octet of four piano pieces from the collection of Rossini's later works titled Sins of Old Age.
April 22: The Utah Valley University Wind Symphony under the direction of Chris Ramos will perform my Stone Colors: Three Desert Images at 7 pm in UVU Concert Hall on the Orem campus. Tickets are $10 general admission and $5 for youth admission.
April 27: A special memorial concert in honor of my great friend and constant collaborator, conductor Glen Adsit, will take place at 7:00 pm in the Lincoln Theater on the campus of the University of Hartford where Glen served as Director of Bands from 2000 until his death in January of this year. I am honored to have saxophonist Carrie Koffman (Glen's former wife) perform my Evensong with the Hartt Wind Ensemble under the direction of James Jackson.
May 3: In January I served as a judge for the Robert Avalon International Competition for Composers. The winning compositions will be performed at 7:30 pm at Match (3400 Main Street) in Houston, Texas by musicians from the Houston Symphony. The gracious sponsors of the competition have included one of my pieces on the program. My Fantasy Variation on a Theme of Belá Bartok for oboe and string quartet will feat oboist Anne Leek. The concert is free, but donations will be accepted at the door.
May 17: I will be in the beautiful city of Prague, Czechia for a recording session with the Belfiato Wind Quintet who will play my Five American Portraits for Five Wind Instruments. The recording will be featured on a CD of American wind music to be released by Parma Records in 2025.
June 6: The Wind Ensemble of the University of California at San Diego will perform my largest and most difficult wind piece, the Concerto for Winds and Percussion, on a concert at 7:30 pm in Manderville Auditorium. Michael Jones will conduct. The concert will be streamed at: http://music.ucsd.edu/live
October 6: The Harmonie North Chamber Winds will pair my Six Romances After Mendelssohn with Mendelssohn's Overture for Winds on a concert at 3 pm in Dickinson Hall (100 East Old Mill Road) in Lake Forest, Illinois. There will pieces by Debussy and Caplet as well.
December 18: The 78th Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference in Chicago will begin with performances by the United States Coast Guard Band. The USCGB's first concert (and the first concert of the conference) will be a chamber winds concert that includes my Rossiniana for woodwind octet. At 5:30 pm the full USCGB will perform my piece for solo harp and wind ensemble, Spring Rain, with harpist Megan Sesma. I will be there as will many hundreds of music educators and student and professional performers from around the country and around the world.
Valerie Whitney CD Features "Reflections on a Southern Hymn"
Summit Records has released a new CD titled COURAGE! that features virtuoso horn player Valerie Whitney. Included the program of nine works is my for solo horn titled Reflections on a Southern Hymn. Only one piece out of the nine works on the diverse program uses piano to accompany the horn. Valerie says that my piece was one of the first she bought for her library after beginning to play the horn at age 10. She has performed with the Chicago Symphony, Chicago Lyric Opera, Milwaukee Symphony and Florida Symphony. Valerie now teaches at the University of British Columbia. If you love the horn, you need to get this amazing CD.
Belfiato Wind Quintet
records "Five American Portraits"
in Prague, Czechia
I traveled to Prague, Czechia in May for a recording session with the Belfiato wind quintet which is making a compilation CD of new American works for Parma Records. The group recorded an older work of mine, the Five American Portraits for Five Wind Instruments from 1987. The virtuosity of these players is amazing, and producer Jan Kosulic was perfectly in sync with the musicians. Our recording studio was an old church in Prague with beautiful acoustics. A video to accompany the studio recording will also be produced. The CD should drop in 2025.