arrange • compose • conduct
Periodic updates and announcements from my professional journey.
Happy almost-end of the school year! I’m celebrating by looking ahead to next school year/concert year; aren’t you? Commissioning is, I believe, one of the most powerful ways of impacting both future musicians and the future of music. I’ve written plenty about that here. I have just two slots left […]
I am so excited for the Rockford Aces’ 15th Anniversary Concert and Reunion, one week from today – May 26, 7pm at Rockford High School. It’s been months in the planning, and my students have prepared so hard to put on a fantastic and varied concert. It never fails to […]
The Aces 15th Anniversary is upon us! I’ve been doing most of the thinking about the Aces 15th Anniversary Concert/Reunion for the last 6 months, but tonight I got to collaborate with three of my alums (from the classes of ’11, ’14, and ’17) to lay the groundwork. I am […]
My newest arrangement is now in print! “Castaways” is a great bossa nova tune that happens to be have been written for the Nick Jr. show The Backyardigans” in 2005. It later became a TikTok meme in 2021. I thought it had fantastic potential for a vocal jazz arrangement – […]
Here’s a story of trying to give back by paying forward. I can’t possibly repay my mentors for the way they shaped me. But I can celebrate them, tell them what they mean to me, try to honor them with my own teaching, and when the opportunity presents itself, I […]
What technology am I using for work, circa January 2023? Recording DAW: Pro Tools Notation: Dorico 4 Keyboard: A very old Kurzweill. I bought it 25 years ago, and aside from one small repair, it’s going strong! Microphone: Aston Origin Video Production: Final Cut Pro Graphic Design: Adobe Creative Cloud […]
2021 started and ended with huge rises in COVID spread. It’s tempting to say that it was 2020 all over again, but it was palpably different. With vaccinations and more knowledge about effective mitigation, we were able to do a lot more normal things, even as we missed out on […]
I wrote and published every day in 2022, with my streak now standing at just over eight uninterrupted years. (I last missed a day in November, 2014.) This year, I wrote a little over 66,000 words – 5,500 per month, or around 180 per day. In the midst of that, […]
Every year I’m excited to do a roundup of the favorite recordings that either came out, or were first heard by me, that year. In addition to audio recordings, I’m including a few other types of recordings – films, shows, and live performances that stuck with me. Recorded Music Is […]
Books remain at the heart of the media I consume – not perhaps the most significant by volume, but certainly by the effect they have on my life. I finished 16 books in 2022. It’s a step forward from my 12 in 2021, but nowhere near the 30-40 I want to […]