Title

Instrumentation

Length

Score

Listen

Bartleby the Scrivener

2Tenor, 2Baritone, Bass String Quartet, Perc.

Estimated at about 90 minutes

Chamber Opera based on the story by Melville.

Climb Up In Sight Climb (2015)

This piece was written to be played by violists of all levels of experience. It was inspired by “Milk”, from the book Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein.

Conjecture (2008)

I wrote this piece for Richard Stoltzman, whose recording released by PARMA Records is available for purchase. The work is a non-programmatic exploration of ideas starting with the unique timbral characteristics of the clarinet.

Dreams of the Recovery Period (2014)

This double concerto, written for the AdZel Duo is based on the published dreams of Naguib Mahfouz, as presented in the book “The Dreams.” The three completed movements are available for performance as a set. Several more movements are planned as resources become available.

Fantasia
on a Theme by Thomas Dolby (2014)

This work is based on Thomas Dolby’s She Blinded Me With Science, a piece near and dear to my teenage years. The title is not just a pun, but in fact my inspiration was my abiding love for Vaughan-Williams Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis. The work explores a lot of extended techniques for the orchestra, and plays with the basic building blocks of the Dolby work, which should be somewhat recognizable to devotees.

Lettere da Triggiano
(2015)

Based on family letters from 1949-1952. This work was premiered as part of Attraverso il Mare, an exploration of Italian-American musical heritage in 2015. Not so much an opera as a snapshot of a moment in time between family members separated by the Atlantic Ocean.

Short Symphony (2012)

This is a short, three movement, non-programmatic work for string orchestra. No extended techniques, instead the work explores the joy of the sounds of strings playing together. The second movement can be performed as a stand-alone work under the title …so anyway, I sez to Mabel, I sez…

…shouting advice from the international dateline, being mistaken for god...

(2011)

Solo Oboe and Orchestra

(oboe 2.2.2.2/3.0.2.1/2perc/str)

Approximately 7 minutes

This work was inspired by an off-hand joke by British comedian Johnny Vegas on Stephen Fry’s BBC quiz show QI. Though the solo oboe part is mostly the same as the oboe and orchestra version of this score, it is not 100% interchangeable, and cannot be used with orchestral accompaniment.

Sinfonia (2010)

I started work on what has become Sinfonia after the inaugural “Minimalist Jukebox” festival at the Los Angeles Philharmonic. I had not really spent a lot of time in the minimalist work before that, but decided I needed to take all the ideas I had been exposed to and write a piece. It also started with a dream, something that has only happened to me once before, where I was dreaming music and remembered it well enough when I work up to write it down. This piece of music has had many forms, but I believe this one for large wind ensemble is the most successful.

Study in Orange (2006)

Study in Orange was written for the Orange County High School for the Arts, and premiered by their junior-high string program. It can also be performed by a string quintet.

Food (2012)

Texts by Gertrude Stein from "Tender Buttons". This five-movement work plays with Gertrude Stein’s text, which in itself plays with words about common household ideas and objects.

The scarcity of rhinos on the television (2004)

Based on a poem from Ursula K. Le Guin's book Sixty Odd.Ursula K. Le Guin’s poem is not so much about Rhinoceroses, but is for me a tale of the risks of missing something important when you’re distracted by flashier things in life.

We the People (2016)

SATB Chorus

Approximately 7 minutes

Preamble to the U.S. Constitution

The Business Cycle (2005, rev. 2010)

Texts by Vincent P. Barabba, Russel Ackoff and Abraham Maslow. This piece started off as a birthday present for my father. I selected excerpts from his business textbooks, and two other writers who influenced his development. I found these texts wonderfully philosophical, and though they are certainly unusual for a set of art songs, they have a dignity to them that I appreciate.

Cry Trojans Cry (2015)

Soprano, Pierrot ensemble, and percussion

Fragmented texts from William Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida. Written for Wild Rumpus and Synchromy’s first collaborative concert in January 2016.

Diddling: Considered as One of the Exact Sciences (2010)

Text adapted from the Essay by Edgar Allan Poe. Diddling is taken from an essay by Edgar Allan Poe, and concerns the myriad ways that people can try to take advantage of you. Though only an excerpt of the essay is included in this song cycle, you can tell that Poe had some pretty negative impressions of his fellow man.

Five Oh Won See 3 (2014)

Text: IRS 501-c3 Designation Letter
This setting of the IRS’s letter officially granting non-profit status to an organization was written for Synchromy’s re:Launch, the first concert they program after receiving the letter. The piece utilizes the complete range of boomwhackers, including treble, bass and chromatic extensions.

Say I Am Not Far Enough (2003)

Based on poems from Ursula K. Le Guin's book Sixty Odd. Baritone Scott Graff and I worked together to select these poems from Ursula K. Le Guin’s powerful poetry.

Standing Outside (2015)

Song for Soprano and Piano

Approximately 2 minutes

A Facebook status by Heather Herbert.

This Friday Afternoon (2009)

Text by Alan Felsenthal. I hear poet Alan Felsenthal read this poem during a residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. It’s a kind of meditation on my home town of Los Angeles.

Tyrant (2017)

What I Mean Is – (2009)

Texts by David Bartone. A set of wonderful poems by David Bartone inspired this work.

…alle Contesse…(2011)

…alle Contesse… was written about an abandoned church in Cortona, Italy.

Broncho Quartet (2014)

Catawampus (2011)

Written for the AdZel Duo, Catawampus is a quick bit of fun.

a declarative sentence whose message is that we must try harder (2011)

This trio was inspired by the poem “I will learn how to love a person and then I will teach you and then we will know” by Tao Lin and published in his 2008 book Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. This is not so much a setting of the text, as a reaction to it.

The Distance of the Moon (2015)

After the Italo Calvino short story “La distanza della Luna” in the book Cosmicomics.

Five Encores (2012)

Five short movements, each written to be possible encores on their own. They can also be played as a set, or any combination of 1-5 movements played in any order.

Fl… (2012)

These six movements are all about different words starting with “Fl”. Performers are encouraged to include visual aids, like projections or cue cards with the movement titles and their definitions.

Flute Octet (2006)

Piccolo, 3 Flutes, 2 Alto Flutes, 2 Bass Flutes

Approximately 9 minutes

Four Erie Canal Songs (2010)

I grew up along the Erie Canal, and though it was long after the tradition of canal songs had passed by, I wanted to tip my hat to this part of my history with these pieces. Each movement is based on different songs, processing them through my own particular musical filter.

Non mi porti a Funkytown? (Disco & Pavane) (2012)

Inspired by a wide-range of 1970’s disco music, this piece is funny and exciting. The contrasting pavane section is based on the theme of Gloria Gaynor’s iconic “I Will Survive.”

Organism (2010)

Rhetorical Devices (2009)

Nine miniature movements, each inspired by a different way of communicating an idea through words; Babble, Sermon, Tweet, Prophesy, etc. The violin and piano are equal partners in this work, which is available in a commercial recording from PARMA Records.

Sheryl’s Studio (2014)

A suite of seven movements, each movement uses all 88 keys on the piano, but each key is used only once. The movements are based on seven different paintings by the artist Sheryl Barabba.

…shouting advice from the international dateline, being mistaken for god... (2011)

This work was inspired by an off-hand joke by British comedian Johnny Vegas on Stephen Fry’s BBC quiz show "QI". Though the solo oboe part is mostly the same as the oboe and orchestra version of this score, it is not 100% interchangeable, and cannot be used with orchestral accompaniment.

A Sign in Space (2010)

Inspired by the short story of the same name that is part of Italo Calvino’s Cosmicomics. It’s possible to perform semi-narrated, with the narrator interrupting the performance in specific locations. Contact the composer directly to discuss this option.

“…so anyway, I sez to Mabel, I sez…” (2012)

The title of this short, energetic work for Woodwind Quintet comes from The Simpsons. It plays with complex patterns and is palindromic. The Brass Quintet version is part of Three Movements for Brass Quintet.

String Trio (2006)

Four virtuosic movements for string trio, commissioned by the Janaki String Trio. The second movement “Obstinate Spaces” can be performed as a stand-alone piece.

Three Meditations for Clarinet and Piano (2007)

Written for Richard Stoltzman, each of these movements takes inspiration from Ursula K. Le Guin’s edition of the Tao Te Ching. Stolzman’s recording is available from MMC Recordings.

Three Movements for Brass Quintet (2011)

The second movement of this set, "…so anyway, I sez to Mabel, I sez…" can be performed as a stand-alone movement. That movement is titled after a very brief moment on "The Simpsons". The third movement, "A Suffusion of Yellow", takes its name from another very brief moment in Douglas Adams’ "The Long, Dark Teatime of the Soul".

Torschluβpanik (2013)

Torschluβpanik is a German word that literally translates as “gate closing panic” which is used to describe the feeling that life’s opportunities are passing you by. This short work was commissioned by the Verismo Trio.

Visiting with Cecil Forsyth - 1914 (2015)

Texts taken from Cecil Forsyth’s Orchestration. It was written for the performers to narrate while they perform. This work was commissioned by Peggy Moran with Kent Leslie, Bernhard Scully and Angela Winter.

A Walk at Dusk (2011)

The title for this work comes from Caspar David Friedrich‘s painting A Walk at Dusk which is part of the Getty Center collection.