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
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 just had awesome night. Like, positively spell-binding. The University of Manitoba Concert Band just performed ALL FOUR movements of Icelandic Folk Song Suite at their concert on March 31st, 2023 at Centre-Culturel Franco Manitobain (or CCFM, for short), conducted by Dr. Jacquie Dawson. So, Dr. Dawson conducted the premiere of this piece eight years ago in my hometown of Gimli, MB; but even better, … Continue reading Reflection: “Icelandic Folk Song Suite” live 8 years later.
Hey team, I don’t want to bite into our summer too much, but if you’re thinking about some new rep for the 2022/23 year, I just wanted to share what’s coming around the bend. Concert Band My three-movement work, Transcendent Light, was published this past June by Eighth Note Publications in Canada and distributed by Alfred in the US. I’m really, really proud of this … Continue reading New Music for the 2022/23 Year
In a really wonderful turn of events, I won a competition this past month! My very first one! It was the 2015 Canadian Band Association Composition Competition (*whew!*) and my piece for concert band “The Meeting Place” took home the prize. Â I really like that tune, and so do a lot of my students – more than many of my other ones, actually. The funny … Continue reading Music Ed Monday – Keep on Keepin’ On
Back in Summer of 2015, I was asked by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra if I could do an arrangement of a pop song for a divisional choir and the orchestra. Â Every other year, the River East Transcona School Division hires out the orchestra to play with their choir. Â This was an enormous opportunity, so of course I said yes, then got it done on time … Continue reading Music Ed Monday – The Quest for Beer at the Orchestra
The Winnipeg Wind Ensemble is premiering my new work, “Icelandic Folk Song Suite,” on May 3rd and 4th! Hope you can make it out! The May 3rd premiere takes place at Gimli High School in my hometown of Gimli, MB, Canada. They will be joined by the Gimli High School Senior Concert Band, which is really crazy because that’s the band I grew up in. … Continue reading Icelandic Folk Song Suite – PREMIERE!
Today is the last day of my sabbatical.  Who would’ve thought 150 days would blow by so quickly? It’s been a very productive five months, though, and I thought that I’d share some of my favourite events and projects from my sabbatical time. 1) Premiering Morgun with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra There is something very surreal about getting to work with some of the best musicians … Continue reading Sabbatical Roundup – Highlights
