Check out these Holiday 2023 performances and composer visits around the United States!
The music and lyrics of We Have a Choice were composed as a reaction to the COVID-19 crisis. The piece explores aleatoric and performer-based textures that can be sung remotely through video conferencing platforms, such as Zoom, or in live settings. The text explores our ability to choose our own paths and reactions in every situation, hopefully ultimately choosing to embrace the story with love, joy, hope, and peace.
The piece alternates between mostly-unison chant-like textures and aleatoric branching textures, in which the performers may choose their own path.
This piece is suitable for any Treble-Voice Choir interested in exploring virtual singing and limited- aleatoric textures that give performers ownership of the material. The piece may be sung in virtual or live settings as circumstances allow.
This up-tempo arrangement of In Dulci Jubilo, commissioned by the Arlington Master Chorale, directed by Randy Jordan, features a modern reharmonization of this beloved carol. The choir is partnered with a colorfully orchestrated Piano and Solo Cello accompaniment. The melody is passed between the voices so each part has a chance to sing the main theme. The harmonies feature surprising twists, such as the use of modal interchange and pedal tones.
This carol would fit well in any holiday-themed concert, Festival of Lessons and Carols, or sacred Christmas and/or Epiphany service.
This fresh arrangement of In the Bleak Midwinter, commissioned as part of a Consortium, is combined with the melodic, rhythmic, and mo.vic content from another beloved carol, Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming. The material from both carols is interwoven among the Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass parts throughout the piece, giving each singer a chance to sing elements of both carols.
This carol would fit well in any holiday-themed concert, Festival of Lessons and Carols, or sacred Christmas and/or Epiphany service.
This piece is the third installment of the ChristMashUp series, which features carol mashups. The first one is What Child Is This (mashed up with Carol of the Bells) & the second one is Joy to the World (combined with Deck the Halls).
The music and lyrics of In the Morning began as an original song that Amy Gordon, the composer, wrote when she was 17 in 2004. It was then arranged for Mezzo-Soprano, Tenor, & Piano for her undergraduate recital at Loyola Marymount University in 2008. In this arrangement, In the Morning has been adapted for SATB Choir & Piano. The hope is that this text about finding strength in the midst of hardship will bring some comfort during the 2020 COVID-19 crisis that has rattled the entire world, including the choral world.
This arrangement would be suitable for any level of SATB Choir and would fit well into a concert about hope and triumph in the midst of trying times.
JANUARY started off with a commission from Dr. Joesph Ohrt for the Central Bucks High School-West Choir of Doylestown, PA. This was an exciting project for me because I had the chance to collaborate with poet, Charles Anthony Silvestri, who has written the texts for some of my favorite choral composers such as Eric Whitacre. … Continue reading My 2019 Year in Review
The holiday season is upon us and thus so is holiday music. I have several upcoming performances of my holiday music, including a premiere of my brand new piece Light in the Darkness, a brand new arrangement of Joy to the World, and my arrangement of What Child Is This. This is my favorite time of the … Continue reading November 24th, 2018
We Three Kings is a traditional Christmas Carol telling the story of three Magi who followed a star to Bethlehem, leading them to the infant Jesus. This arrangement, commissioned by Jonathan Bautista and dedicated to Nova Vocal Ensemble, features a modern reharmonization and an original motive (introduced in the tenors’ first three notes) that is woven throughout the entire piece. Each choir part is featured throughout the arrangement, with verses being sung by sopranos, altos, and tenors. The original motive is passed between the parts in a contrapuntal texture, making this a good arrangement for any choir looking for fun interplay and hocket-like textures.
This arrangement would fit well in any holiday-themed concert, Festival of Lessons and Carols, or sacred Christmas and/or Epiphany service.
Continue reading We Three KingsHAPPY NEW YEAR! Welcome to my brand new website, beautifully designed by Patrick Hassani, founder and owner of Business Website Builders. The new website features: A brand-new Choral and Chamber Music Catalog Individual Pages for each of my music compositions, such as my latest arrangement of “What Child Is This” A new tagging system for … Continue reading January 1st, 2017
What Child Is This? is a traditional English Christmas Carol composed in the 1800s. This arrangement, commissioned by Jonathan Bautista and Nova Vocal Ensemble, fuses the melody and lyrics of “What Child is This” with motives and harmonies found in “Carol of the Bells”, a Ukrainian carol. Each voice has a chance to sing the various motives drawn from “Carol of the Bells”, making this a fun choral piece that combines two beloved Christmas carols.
Continue reading What Child is This