NEW RELEASES: October 2025
I’m thrilled to share with you the debut release of select titles now exclusively available through Just A Theory Press! Today’s release includes brand-new editions of older titles, some newer selections, and a few never-before-released pieces!
NEW WORKS
THE SUM OF ALL THINGS: SYMPHONY NO. 1
The Sum of All Things is my first symphony and my first foray into writing music with a more theatrical scope. Unlike my second symphony Pumpkin Madness, which features a distinctly programmatic narrative, this first symphony is largely abstract, balancing an overall darker tone with occasional moments of cathartic serenity. The heavily dramatic opening of the first movement, and the relentlessly aggressive turbulence which follows (hence its title “Prelude & Turbulence”), eventually gives way to the somber, pleading, and angry “Elegy” comprising the second movement. The third movement journeys through “Mysterious & Magical” textures of melody and sound in the search for resolutions to unanswered questions, while the intense and ferocious “Scherzo Frenetico” of the fourth movement pits many of the symphony's various themes and motifs together in a vicious battle, culminating in a fiercely determined, yet still bombastic, coda.
ESSAY FOR STRING ORCHESTRA
This one-movement essay for string orchestra explores darker sonorities and textures alongside relentless percussive and rhythmic activity. Harmonic resonance is often devoid of warmth here; plucking and other such wandering percussive activity gives way to relentlessly rhythmic turbulence; other textures - whether dense or light, rich or muted - are sometimes guided by solos that ultimately meander through uncertainty. The briefest of respites near the end of the essay summons an almost pagan-like aura, as if gazing upon an ancestral past of sorts through an ethereal haze.
WATER BALLET FOR THE GREAT LAKES
Water Ballet for the Great Lakes is the first movement of my sonata for bass trombone & piano, Mitten State Postcards. Originally commissioned by Adam Graham and subsequently premiered at the 2025 International Trombone Festival, the sonata was an opportunity for me to create musical depictions of various aspects of my home state of Michigan and how each of them connects with the four classic elements - water, fire, earth, and air. This water ballet is a lyrical ode to the Great Lakes and all of its natural splendor, in which the more beautiful qualities of the trombone have an opportunity to shine. The gracefully flowing nature of this movement is especially exemplified in this arrangement through the idiomatic capabilities of the harp.
My sincerest gratitude to JOLO Duo for the opportunity to revisit this sonata.
NOW AVAILABLE
Mitten State Postcards: Sonata for Bass Trombone & Piano
Kaleidoscopic Prism - Vibraphone or Glass Marimba
Of the Hummingbirds - Flute or Piccolo, Xylophone
The Mind and Spirit Upon Earth - Cello, Vibraphone
NEW EDITIONS
All I Wonder - Soprano, Bass Clarinet, Djembe
INFERNO 7.0 - Bb Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone, Harp
Antikythera - Bass Clarinet, Bass or Baritone Saxophone
Bread and Circuses - Saxophone Quartet & Optional Fixed Media Playback
Raindrops in an endless sea of stars - 2-5 part Flexible/Adaptable Ensemble & Fixed Media
Conversations - Bb Clarinet, Harp
A Jovial Whim - Unaccompanied Solo (multiple editions available)
