Blog

22 May 2024, Article
It's About Being A Tree
One question I'm frequently asked is "What is this piece about?" It happens to be one of my least favorite questions, too (along with "What were you thinking of when you wrote this?"‐-which compares composition to painting the likeness of a bowl of fruit arranged on a draped table--and "What does this piece mean?"‐‐a question of hermeneutics that I have little patience or concern with, but which can be summed up by stating my belief that music does communicate meaning but it is a musical meaning, one that ...

20 Mar 2013, Article
Advice to High School Students About Studying Composition - Part I
I got in touch with an old friend this weekend who has a high schooler considering studying composition in college. He asked me for some advice; the following is an elaboration of the brief advice I gave him. My advice is based on several observations. First, if you write music--no matter what training or education you've had--you are a composer. A degree doesn't make you composer, writing music makes you a composer. Having a degree in composition doesn't make you good composer--and it ...

27 Apr 2012, Article
North Dakota Plays Jazz!
Fargo North HS Jazz Ensemble (Fargo, ND), under the direction of John Syverson, has signed on to perform 2 of my new jazz ensemble compositions this fall. Stay tuned for performance dates and details. John's band has previously performed several of my orchestrations for jazz ensemble, including some heavy hitters like "Some Skunk Funk" and "La Fiesta". This is a mean ensemble!