Hey everyone! As the school year fast approaches, here is my new concert band music for the 2026/27 year: Feis! Grade 1Duration: 2:00 With something for everyone in the ensemble, this folk setting of two traditional Irish tunes is sure to engage your students. Starting with “Peg Ryan’s Polka,” this Grade 1 piece for concert band moves the melody around the ensemble using accessible rhythm … Continue reading 2027 Concert Band Music
Hey everyone, it’s time to share the new music for 2025-26! 🙂 Prairie Sunset (Grade 1) – “Prairie Sunset” is a lush and introspective work for very young band, capturing the slow transformation of colors in the Canadian prairie sky as the sun sets. To The Skies! (Grade 1.5) – Capture the thrill of soaring through the air, sailing through the azure sky with the clouds spinning … Continue reading 2026 Concert Band Music
In 2020, Disney made a documentary series called Into the Unknown about the making of Frozen 2 and near the end of one of the early episodes, the directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck go into the orchestral recording sessions for documentary’s namesake. If I remember correctly, the process was really chugging at that point and there were many questions and problems stacking up and … Continue reading Arcadia
Hey everyone, After an incredibly intense few months of composing and prepping for the ASU premiere of Arcadia (post about that coming soon), I’ve been reconnecting with some of my favourite pieces of music and, to be honest, finding my way back to ones from SNES. So, here’s a short burst of some of my faves: 1) “Close to Home” from Uncharted Waters: New Horizions … Continue reading Lighthouse Music II (SNES Edition)
Today is my 41st birthday and I can’t believe it’s the end of December! It’s been a mostly fabulous year, which I think is a win. Here are some highlights: The year opened with Dr. Nora Wilson’s incredible premiere of Arcadia Trombonica at Brandon University in January. We worked so hard at bringing this project to life and, while we didn’t have every visual or … Continue reading 2024 in Review!
I’m currently away in Saskatoon conducting the 2024 Saskatchewan Senior Honour Band, but I wanted to reflect on a commission that premiered ten years ago today; one that is, quite probably, my wildest commission to date. It was on a warm summer day in 2013 that I was asked to come to meet up with a lady named Janice Arnason, who was had been my … Continue reading Morgun – Ten Years Later
I’m writing this while waiting for the flight at Dallas Fort Worth airport and reflecting back on this weekend at the International Trombone Festival. I heard some incredible music, had some great laughs with new colleagues, some deep talks with Nora Wilson (who absolutely crushed the performance of Arcadia Trombonica, more on that later), and if we’re being honest, ate some incredible barbecue. Let’s start … Continue reading ITF 2024 Reflection
Hey everyone, Dr. Nora Wilson and I will be at the International Trombone Festival 2024 in Fort Worth, TX this weekend for the premiere of my new piece, Arcadia Trombonica, performed by Nora herself! It’s going to be amazing and we hope to see you there! If you heard the piece and would like to purchase it, you can do so here! Continue reading ITF 2024!
I feel like I’m seeing a lot about “journeys” lately—weight-loss journeys, wellness journeys, etc. I’ve been reflecting on the burnout that I felt through most of the last few years and I’ve been reframing it as a “burnout journey,” which feels right to me. For most of 2022 and 2023, I had no vitality, and I use that word really specifically. I think of vitality … Continue reading Music Ed Monday – Contributing
Today is December 31st, 2023 – my 40th birthday. As I wrote at the end of my previous post, I have big dreams for this decade. At Christmas, my father-in-law told me that your forties were when you really bite down on your goals, you get aggressive with taking what you’re doing to the next steps and that’s very much how I feel. I’m ready … Continue reading Four Zero (Looking Ahead)
