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Incredible Agent Cool was composed in January of 2017 and was written as a fun piece for the beginning band. The piece was written for my students, who had to endure the month without me as I recovered from surgery.  From the opening trill, to the powerful bass line, to melodies that envision characters from television shoes like Mission Impossible, Peter Gunn and Inspector Gadget, let the students envision a secret agent of their time that helps society. 
When performing, remind the students that dynamics are not only important, but also necessary for expression to happen in the music. This can make the opening, the secondary melody, and the ending more effective. Help the percussion to not just play the repetitive rhythms, but to become a cohesive section that performs a groove, working together to perform a solid beat. Let the bassline fill up the sound, using lots of air, without overdoing the tone quality. The trombones might consider using 6th position for the F to help make a smooth slur, otherwise the technical skills of the piece were carefully thought of as the notes were written.

The Incredible Agent Cool

Concert Band Score & Parts

Fire Within was written in the spring of 2019 for high school bands and directors looking for a piece that contains odd meter and excitement but keeps the difficulty down. The scoring was intentional to be available for smaller bands. The piece begins with alternating measures of 6/8 and 2/4, giving the impression of a fast 5/4. The opening thematic material is based from a modal idea of a natural minor scale with open harmonies. The quick repetitive, easy-to-finger, eighth note and sixteenth note obligato in the upper woodwinds and keyboards helps with making the piece sound more difficult than what it really is.

Fire Within

Fall Creek was composed in the fall of 2017 and was written for the
  beginning band, then converted later in 2018 for string orchestra. The piece
  only uses the first six notes that students learn, plus an occasional concert
  Ab. Staying to simple rhythms will allow the students to learn the song
  quickly, so they are able to work on musicality and tone. My hope is that
  they will enjoy the gradual crescendo throughout the piece building to a
  grand ending, only to surprise the audience with a soft last chord. As an
  alternate ending, directors do have my permission to switch the last note,
  making all pitched instruments play a concert Bb at a f level and the
  percussion rolling a whole note.

Fall Creek

Agent Cool's Mission was composed in November of 2023 and was written as a fun piece for the beginning band. The piece was written as a prequel to my song Incredible Agent Cool, featuring less notes and range than the original.  From the opening drum beat to the powerful bass line, to melodies that envision characters from television shows like Mission Impossible, Peter Gunn and Inspector Gadget, let the students envision a secret agent of their time that helps society. 
When performing, remind the students that dynamics are not only important, but also necessary for expression to happen in the music. This can make the opening, the secondary melody, and the ending more effective. Help the percussion to not just play the repetitive rhythms, but to become a cohesive section that performs a "groove", working together to perform a solid beat. Let the bassline fill up the sound, using lots of air, without overdoing the tone quality. The piece uses a few more notes than the beginning six, otherwise the technical skills of the piece were carefully thought of as the notes were written.
I hope the students enjoy Agent Cool's Mission, knowing the excitement it can bring and that they learn that playing an instrument is a lifelong time of smiles and happiness!

Agent Cool's Mission

Fall Creek was composed in the fall of 2017 and was written for the beginning band, then converted later in 2018 for string orchestra. The violins and bass only use the first six notes that students learn, plus an occasional concert C. Whenever there are two notes marked in the score, or part, players should play the lower note. Because the upper note requires better technique and pitch, only more advanced players may be directed to the upper note. Staying to simple rhythms will allow the students to learn the song quickly, so they are able to work on musicality and tone. My hope is that they will enjoy the gradual crescendo throughout the piece building to a grand ending, only to surprise the audience with a soft last chord. As an alternate ending, directors do have my permission to switch the last note, making all pitched instruments play a concert D at a f level and the percussion rolling a whole note.

String Orchestra Score & Parts

This piece is a fanfare for the concert band that creates an exhilarating
  opening and finish with an optional aleatoric section for the band being
  presented in the middle. This is supposed to represent the difficulty of
  beginning bands learning to come together with their individual parts to
  create a complete team song. Although it is scored for full band, there are
  only four woodwind parts, four brass parts and a bass part. The opening
  accompanying material is with a quick repetitive, easy-to-finger, eighth note
  obligato in the upper woodwinds. At the repeat of the melody, the band breaks
  into more parts creating more need to listen and work together. The optional
  free section is where you can experiment with sound as if the wheels come
  off, much like an early rehearsal would sound. You may also experiment with
  allowing the students to pick their own note, keeping the rhythm. As the
  melody returns, the audience will hear the difference of what it is like when
  the band all works together to create music. The piece is written with a
  beginning band in mind with the use of just the first six notes and extra
  percussion parts in case you have a large percussion section (the xylophone
  and the percussion three parts are optional).

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Winter Triptych was written in the fall of 2018, conceived as a multi-movement piece for grade 1  concert band. In 2023, Erin Holden, band director at Rochester West Middle School, asked me to write a piece that middle school clarinet players could perform in a choir, being considerate of their ranges. This clarinet choir is an arrangement of the concert band piece using the first and third movements. The same melodic phrase is used for all three movements with different historical backdrops. The opening movement is a fanfare/overture that creates an exhilarating opening and finish with different colors (sonorities) of the choir being presented in the middle, make sure the chorale is full and connected. I made sure that the parts were of varying difficulty to accommodate a variety of levels of players. Parts were meant to be doubled to allow maximum players but may also be played with one player if they are a stronger player. The use of two bass clarinet parts provides extra interest and contrapuntal ideas. This instrument should be a prominent sound during the last song, that is why I reduced it to one part. Cutting from seven clarinet parts in the first song to six parts in the last, just move those players onto another part. Let the melody bounce and have life, keeping the eighth notes light, imagining the exhilaration of a horse driven sleigh ride in winter snow. I hope you and your students enjoy this lively work, remembering the fun that nature brings.

Winter Triptych

Clarinet Ensemble

The First Time I Flew was commissioned in 2012 by the Jessica Rogers Foundation, a foundation started by the Rogers family to promote the education of students in music. The foundation was named after their daughter Jessica, who loved music and wanted to make it a career. Tragically she passed in her senior year. I had the blessing of knowing Jessica and knew the love that she had for music, her flute, leadership and life. This piece reflects and uses parts of music that was dear to her heart. From using her schoolis fight song and alma mater to suggestions based off the piece The Noisy Bird (LiOiseau Tapageur) by Louis Balleron for solo piccolo, the flute is featured in this piece to celebrate her life.

The First Time I Flew

Colors of Peace was written in March 2018 for the wonderful students of the MSBOA District 16 8/9 
Grade Honors Band. The piece is a fanfare for the concert band that creates an exhilarating opening and 
finish with different colors (sonorities) of the band being presented in the middle. The opening thematic 
material is based from the early canon Dona Nobis Pacem (Latin for Grant Us Peace) with a quick 
repetitive, easy-to-finger, sixteenth note obligato in the upper woodwinds. Be careful to not let the 
obligato or the alto voice layer, which has shape and direction, to overcome the brass fanfare. The 
subito p in measure 11 introduces a rising scale idea that is used to propel the piece into the next 
section. The melody in measure 19 displays the hemiola rhythm of this piece, which creates the 
complexity of combining 3/4 and 6/8 rhythm ideas. The main melody of the song is in measure 35 with 
the upper woodwinds and should be graceful like a waltz. Measures 55 to 83 are a development of 
these themes to feature different sonority groupings of the band. Contrast the tone colors of the lows to
the highs, and the wood sounds from the metal sounds. During the recap, please note the 
countermelody used at measure 107 and allow that to soar over the top. The chords in measures 136 
and 138 help set up the exciting finish letting the timpani player shine

Colors of Peace

The piece is a chorale for the concert band that creates a picture of a grassy field alongside a stream on a sunny day. The opening thematic material in the intro creates a picture of sitting and enjoying the view of nature building into the first theme. The first theme is legato and flowing representing the water in the stream and the wind along the trees.  The second complimentary theme is a little back and forth between the brass and the woodwinds building to a small peak and returning to the first theme. Imagine the austere view of something in nature that you have not seen before and the beauty of it! The subito p is the mystery and wonder of how this beautiful landscape came about, bringing us back to the intro. Both melodies are combined letting this climatic section be full and powerful making sure all melodic lines can be heard. As the piece comes to the end, let the change of harmonies move you forward and yet, not rushed. Let the chime notes come through and the flute and oboe Ab anchor the section.  A tapered ending would be a good touch

Peaceful Meadows

Originally written for a recital in college, this piece has been updated to be suitable for a 3rd or 4th year student. The piece is 5 1/2 minutes long. It begins and ends in a pensive mood but builds and flows through the middle. Many opportunities to show musicality!

Sonatina

Clarinet Solo Collection with Piano

Winter Triptych was written in the fall of 2018, conceived as a
  multi-movement piece for grade 1 1/2. The same melodic phrase is used for all
  three movements with different historical backdrops. Percussion keyboards
  play an integral part in each piece, with some switching of instruments
  between songs. I made sure to write only seven percussion parts for each song
  to not overtax the personnel of smaller bands. The opening movement is a
  fanfare/overture that creates an exhilarating opening and finish with
  different colors (sonorities) of the band being presented in the middle, make
  sure the brass chorale is full and connected. The opening thematic material
  is used again to feature the percussion keyboards in the second movement. Let
  the woodwinds provide color to the melody, but not to overplay the
  percussion. The wind chimes should be multiple and of varying sizes to create
  the color needed. Let the students be creative and play with the
  movement/sound effects, to sound like winter wind. The flutes at the end, can
  either roll their head joints, or dip their heads to bend the pitch, creating
  a howling sound of the wind. They do not need to be together doing this. The
  sleigh bell should sneak in during the last fermata, combining it with the
  first measure of the third movement. The instrument should be a prominent
  sound during the last song. Let the melody bounce and have life, keeping the
  eighth notes light. When the keyboard melody of the second movement returns
  near the end, it is optional to add hand claps doubling the whip and a foot
  stomp doubling the bass drum.

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