Featured compositions:

For bassoon, string quartet, and piano.

Bassoon Sextet in B-flat Major is a two-movement work for bassoon, string quartet, and piano, commissioned by Mr. Michael Francis and Ms. Nancy Laturno - Director of Mainly Mozart Festival and CEO of Mainly Mozart, respectively. The work was premiered by pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, San Diego Symphony Principal Bassoon Mr. Valentin Martchev, and all principal string players in the San Diego Symphony. The piece premiered at the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center in La Jolla, CA, November 14, 2023.

As the piece was commissioned by members of the Mainly Mozart Festival, it was intended to honor Mozart by borrowing elements from his writing. Examples of Mozart’s style that are found in the piece include the use of sonata form, ornamentation, and humor - the theme to “American Patrol” by Frank White Meacham is hidden near the ending of the first movement. Inclusion of elements of Mozart’s style makes the piece more accessible to an audience not familiar with new music, allowing the audience to easily connect with the music. The piece also contains features that are unlike Mozart’s style, such as changing time signatures, extreme registers, and intense dynamic contrast. For example, instead of recapitulating the second movement’s first theme exactly, the theme is slammed fortisissimo across the piano’s entire register in heavy block chords, drawing influence from the extreme emotions conveyed in twentieth century music. As music critic Bill Manson wrote of the premiere in December 2023, “It does indeed sound like Mozart - as interpreted by a visiting Martian from the future.” The piece’s combination of traditional and contemporary ideas enables new audiences to connect with old music, which is one of my primary aims as a composer.

Rhapsody for Solo Cello is a piece for unaccompanied cello that uses implied harmony to showcase the cello’s ability to accompany itself. The piece borrows elements from Sonata Form in that it includes exposition, development, and recapitulation sections. However, no section repeats, giving the piece the feeling of being in the form of a rhapsody (a form in which no section is repeated.) By borrowing elements from sonata form without using a specific structure, the piece can be both predictable and surprising.

The piece also uses non-traditional harmony and mixed meter to surprise listeners. For example, the piece opens in the Phrygian mode instead of in the more traditional Aeolian (or natural minor) mode, demonstrating the piece’s use of non-traditional harmony. By using non-traditional harmony in the piece, the piece creates instability that only resolves at the piece’s ending. The piece also uses mixed meter to surprise listeners. In one section of the piece, for example, the number of beats per measure decreases gradually over time, driving the piece forward with unexpected rhythms. The piece’s use of unexpected rhythms makes the piece unpredictable and surprising.

Lastly, the piece uses the mechanical elements of cello performance to enhance phrasing and dynamics. When the piece calls for a subito piano marking after an intense crescendo, for example, the piece calls for a natural harmonic on the A string. By suddenly shifting to a harmonic, the performer naturally removes vibrato and shifts to a softer sound color, helping the performer control dynamics more naturally.

For tenor voice and piano

“When you realize...” is a short art song for voice and piano that is based on a quote from the Chinese Philosopher Lao Tzu’s philosophical book “Tao Te Ching”, the book that outlines the principles of the Taoist philosophy. The quote emphasizes gratitude for the things one already owns instead of discontent at not having enough. I chose to enhance the quote’s meaning by beginning the piece in a gloomy and plodding mood to emphasize the sad feeling of acceptance of not having enough in life. Then, when the word “lacking” is sung, the piece’s energy and enthusiasm begins to increase. When the singer sings the word “you”, the piece concludes powerfully in the home key to emphasize the joy and satisfaction of acknowledging the good things that one already has.

The piece expands the length of the short quote using repetition of small segments of the sentence. For example, the statement “there is nothing lacking” is repeated three times throughout the piece. Each time a segment of the quote is repeated, the piece gives it a different emotion. The first time the words “when you realize...” are sung, the piano accompanies the voice in a major key to suggest the discovery of something positive. However, the second time the words “when you realize” are sung, the piano accompanies the voice in a minor key to depict the discovery of tragic news. Ultimately, the piece repeats text to change its meaning over the course of the song.

“Quartet for Mixed Brass” combines elements of Medieval sacred music, Baroque fugues, and Romantic symphonic works to showcase the timbral contrast between the french horn and trombone. In all areas of the music, the piece puts the dark, lyrical sound of the french horn in contrast with the bright, powerful sound of the trombone to highlight both instruments’ ability to convey a wide range of emotions. The lyrical, contrapuntal use of the trombone reflects the trombone’s historical role as a sacred instrument, in which it was used to depict God and the supernatural. The supernatural element of the music is enhanced by the use of chords borrowed from distant keys, which were commonly used in the large symphonic works of late-Romantic composers such as Gustav Mahler and Anton Bruckner. The piece is also developed using fugue expositions and contrapuntal motives, giving the piece greater structure and more identifiable patterns to make it more accessible to a wider audience. Ultimately, the piece showcases the trombone by synthesizing elements of great trombone writing into a short, accessible chamber piece - with a solo french horn included to soften the texture.

For concert band

“New World Fanfare” for concert band is an arrangement of a previous work for orchestral brass and percussion that has the same title. The original work was performed at the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center in La Jolla, California, and the Mainly Mozart Gala and Patrick Henry High School’s PHAME theater in San Diego.

The original version of the New World Fanfare was written for brass and percussion players in the Mainly Mozart Youth Orchestra (MMYO), and commissioned by conductor Hernan Constantino to introduce a performance of the works of Antonín Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana by combining both composers’ ideas in a fanfare. An example of the ideas of both composers’ influence can be seen in the middle of the piece of music, with the introduction of the Moldau theme, which is brought to life by the clarinets.

The arrangement of the piece, for concert band, was commissioned by Dr. Jeffrey Malecki, Director of Bands at the University of San Diego and conductor of the San Diego Summer Winds, and was performed at Balboa Park’ Spreckels Organ Pavilion. The arrangement is enhanced by the addition of woodwinds, euphonium, and bass drum, giving the piece greater power and depth. The use of concert band instruments brings the arrangement closer in scale to the full orchestra pieces that inspired the work.