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
In my mind, it was so unlikely that I almost couldn’t believe it when the results were announced. When thinking about competitions, I often remind myself about American composer Eric Whitacre’s blog post about the topic. In short: You won’t win, but throwing your hat in the ring will have other creative, emotional, and professional benefits – but you won’t win. When I got an … Continue reading Winning the WASBE Competition
Hey everyone, Just two quick updates! The first is that the online store is FINALLY up-and-running! All of the gremlins are out of the back end and everything works. Delivery is in PDFs and currency is in CAD so, for my US friends, this is one heck of a deal on band music. The second is that some of the pieces are in competition until … Continue reading Shop Update!
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
Hey team, I love music – I really do. I think about it quite a lot, but when both my day and night jobs are music, sometimes I get so burned out that I can’t see the forest from the trees; or rather, the beauty in the sonic fabric from the succession of pitches in a unidirectional harmonic progression. Sometimes, we play music; sometimes, we … Continue reading Music Ed Monday – Lighthouse Music (Part 1)
Click here to purchase. Hi everybody, So, it’s been a big year. In the last eight months, my family grew by one and I took a one-year sabbatical from teaching to pursue a Master’s degree in Composition from Brandon University. I know, perhaps we could have timed that better but, as the old saying goes, “the right time is when it happens,” right? Anyway, I’ve … Continue reading NEW PIECE – “Colossus”
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
Another big week on the sabbatical: Seeing as I got to the end of Movement IV of the Icelandic Folk Song Suite, I spent most of my work on this patching up holes in the music. I worked the transitions a lot and figured out how they’re going to work, patching up the last one just tonight (which is still a bit of a mess). I’m … Continue reading Sabbatical Week 2 Roundup!
