2024 was an amazing year. We took to calling it “Annus Mirabilis” around here – Latin for “Miracle Year.” Of course every year has its ups and downs, but there were some pretty amazing ups this year.
Writing
I have historically used this section of my Year in Review to highlight my daily writing, and I’ll get to that. But I published my first book this year! Thanks to supporters on Kickstarter and many purchasers since, I have copies of Jazz Theory For Choral Musicians around the country and I’m already hearing back from people who are learning and feeling empowered by the book. What a year!
Now, as to this website: I published a new post on this site every day in 2024, totaling 364 posts (plus today!).
I wrote over 63,000 words written for my blog this year; That averages 5,500 a month or around 175 per day, or a little less when you factor out a few longer posts. That’s always my goal – an easily and quickly readable post.
My goal remains to publish a post every day under three main tentpoles: education, vocal music, and creativity. Almost everything I write pertains to one of the three. Every post from the last four years is categorized to make it easier to search for topics.
Composing/Arranging
I premiered three new arrangements for Shades of Blue in 2024: “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” (SATB + Big Band), “From The Start” (SATB + Rhythm Section, in print now) and the GRCC Alma Mater (a cappella). I expect to have the first published in 2025 with Anchor Music. I also wrote two minis for Shades of Blue to record for the GRCC Foundation: an arrangement of the second half of the Happy Birthday song, and a jingle thanking donors. It was a fun project to wrap up our fall semester! (I’ve also just finished two arrangements for Shades to premiere next semester, including another one for SATB + Big Band. That’s seven different writing projects just for Shades this year!)
I completed two arrangements (TTBB a cappella) for the Rockford Aces: a fun new arrangement of “Life Is A Highway” which will be in print shortly, and a version of “Earworm” by Vulfmon. Writing for a group you direct is a particular joy because you can tailor the writing in big and small ways to fit the group perfectly.
Rockford Choirs did a Broadway themed Cabaret this year. I wrote 49 band arrangements (bass/drums) – my most ever. I gave myself two weeks to finish it because Broadway songs are more intricate for the band than some other genres, and it paid off with some really great performances. I always love working with wonderful musician friends as bandleader for this event, and making some great music with great students.
For the first time since around 2010, I did not compose MSVMA Sight Reading. It was a deep honors to compose these for MSVMA for so long, and I was happy to pass the baton to my friend Andy Nowak.
I completed three SSAA a cappella arrangements for my friend Noteworthy in Grosse Pointe. I’ve been writing for them for close to 20 years, and it’s always fun to write for their specific sound. I have a back catalog of arrangements for them that I hope to edit and publish soon!
I did various side projects – a horn arrangement for my friend Becky Selvidge, a transposed clarinet part for a couple pieces for my son, and a re-engraving of one of my favorite arrangements of mine, “Landslide” for a former student who wanted to conduct it with her group. And of course, various solo vocal arrangements for students along the way.
And I completed two compositions, both gifts to people.
FLEXIBILITY, which I wrote for the 2024 Wisconsin All-State Jazz Choir. I wrote it just a few minutes before our first rehearsal, in fact. More on that below.
JULIAN, an AABA jazz tune. I came up with a bit of a musical puzzle for myself and had fun solving it – the song modulates from the first A to the second A, but the melody doesn’t. I finished it on Julian’s birthday, so the name seemed clear.
I’m blessed to be able to stay busy writing music I’m excited about. If you’re interested in commissioning something in 2025 or beyond, now’s the time to hit me up!
Conducting
The Rockford Aces are now in their 17th year. They continue to inspire me with their enthusiasm, their musicality, and their potential. We released our sixth (!) studio album this year, Camaraderie, on all streaming platforms AND as a limited-edition vinyl. We are halfway through recording our seventh album. All our albums are now streaming, and our Spotify wrapped had us streamed for 226 hours in 38 countries! The most-streamed track on Spotify was Shoulder to Shoulder from the Camaraderie Suite:
I am now in my eighth year directing GRCC Shades of Blue. The group keeps growing both musically and in numbers – we had ten in the group this semester, with a great mix of new and returning members. In addition to all the premieres and projects mentioned above, we were able to run the group as a summer term class in the studio, where we recorded an entire album in about eight weeks. GRCC has an amazing studio in our Music Center – great to record in! That project is currently being mixed, and will be one of three big Shades recording projects I plan to release in 2025.
Professional Growth
2024 started off with a bang as I was contacted to be the fill-in conductor for the Wisconsin All-State Jazz Choir when their planned conductor became too ill to travel. It was a whirlwind and a thrill and I can’t wait to conduct my next one!
Did I mention I wrote a book?! Jazz Theory For Choral Musicians occupied a lot of my bandwidth this year between the Kickstarter, the publishing process, and more. I’m still working on several Kickstarter stretch goals to provide more education around jazz theory.
I continue to serve MSVMA as Supervisor of the All-State Jazz Choir. We had a fantastic ensemble in January, 2024 under my dear friend, Dr. Kate Reid. Right now we’re about 4 weeks out from the 2025 ensemble, directed by the fantastic Dr. Jeremy Fox. We continue to show growth with number of schools participating, number of students auditioning, and skill of student participant. I’m excited to see this activity to continue to grow and flourish with the support of MSVMA.
In addition to conducting Shades of Blue, I continue to teach applied lessons at GRCC – I have been teaching jazz voice, jazz piano and composition. I teach Jazz Theory most winter semesters, a thrill for me to expose students to new ways of thinking about theory.
I am proud to be published with many fantastic independent publishers, including Anchor Music, UNC Jazz Press, Pavane, and at Sheet Music Plus. I published more of my writing via ArrangeMe this year, and will be looking into my back catalog for more in 2025!
I unpublished my Patreon late this year because I have had limited time to focus on it. I will be thinking about ways to reimagine that as a way to support the costs of running this website.
The Michigan Choral Commission Consortium is on hiatus this school year as I reassess how to give it the time it deserves in my busy schedule. I deeply miss supporting my Michigan choral community in that way.
Every day I am looking for more and better ways to give back to my professional community – with my time, with my attention, and with my words. If you have an idea for a project we could work together on to make the choral community stronger, please contact me!
Personal Growth
I baked around 60 loaves of bread in 2024, and hardly a week went by without some of our family staples: homemade pizza, pancakes, waffles, focaccia…. Cooking and baking remain outlets for me to clear my head of music, and a tangible way to express my love for family and friends.
I completed my second year as Scoutmaster and watched the troop grow in numbers and skills. I spent several weeks camping in the course of the year, including a lifetime memory of camping under the totality of the 2024 Solar Eclipse, a trip my entire family attended and the last campout before my oldest aged out of Scouting as a youth.
I read 16 books in 2024. I find it hard to carve out as much time for reading as I want to, but am also mindful that I read a lot more than many. It fills my spirit.
We said goodbye to our precious dog Bijou this fall. It’s incredibly sad to let go of our four-legged friends, but we are grateful for the six years we got with her. (She was 12.) And whenever we’re out taking walks regardless of the weather, we say a little thank you for the many gifts she gave us.
I can’t imagine doing any of what I’m doing without my amazing partner, Mandy. She inspires and motivates me, is my first and most trusted editor and confidant, and makes everything I do better. We celebrated our 22nd anniversary this year, and it just keeps getting better. Annus Mirabilis applied to the whole family, as Mandy was elected as Teacher of the Year by MSVMA, a lifetime achievement award honoring her 20+ years of remarkable teaching. You can read her speech here.
My life is full in the best possible ways, and on the horizon I see possibilities I couldn’t have dreamed even a few years ago. Every day I try to do the best I can at the job in front of me, and on most days I see positive change.