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A Phrygian Chorale
Thanks to the great teachings of Dr. Mark A. Cook and the fantastic work put in by my fellow studio members, this beautiful saxophone quartet piece is enchanting and stunning. It is written in the chorale style of Bach (and a bit of music theory part-writing), but in the phrygian mode. The name is a bit of a pun (a phrygian being the key, and the piece being a singular phrygian chorale).
A Phrygian Chorale - Shepherd University Saxophone Quartet
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Song for Brass Quintet
Song for Brass Quintet was arranged and written for the Sisters of SAI Eta Tau Chapter at Shepherd University for their Women in Music Recital. This is not for a standard brass quintet, for I had to fit the needs of the Sisters I wrote it for, but the blend of fluglehorn, French horns, and euphonium give this piece a rich, dark sound I have always loved in brass instruments.
**The top PDF is the SAI Eta Tau version and the bottom PDF is arranged for a standard brass quintet.
Patchwork ("music doodles" for piano)
After having a huge bout of writer's block, I consulted my mom (who always has great advice) and asked for ideas. She told me that I should make "music doodles" (a.k.a. "sketches") until I had an idea stick. Suddenly, I remembered I did have a ton of sketches from past pieces; after looking through what I had, I stitched all of my past sketches together and created Patchwork. The name references my mom's love for crafts, particularly sewing and quilting. Thank you mom for the great idea! My fantastic friend, pianist Korinne Myers, premiered the piece December 3, 2018.
Patchwork ('musical doodles' for piano) - Korinne Myers
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Song for Brass Quintet - MIDI file
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Standard Version
SAI Eta Tau Version
Quartet for Two Marimbas
This piece began as an exercise to see how many different patterns of 7/8 (using only dotted quarter notes, eighth notes, and quarter notes) I could write out. Then, I began to layer the patterns, but the groupings were different (i.e. 2+3+2 vs. 3+2+2). A few of my percussionist friends were excited about the idea, so I decided to write a marimba quartet piece for them, having two players on each marimba.
Quartet for Two Marimbas - Shepherd University Marimba Quartet
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4 Matrices for String Quartet
After having major writer's block for weeks on what to write for a string quartet, we learned about serialism in my music history class at Shepherd University, including tone rows and matrices. An idea suddenly hit me: create a matrix for each player, all starting on 0. These 0s create an F# Major triad, but the rest of the piece is left to chance by the random serialization I created. The best part is that - completely by chance - the violin 2 part ends with 4-0 (E# to C#) and the cello part ends with 7-0 (C#-F#); this ending creates a V-I cadence, thus making the whole crazy, serialized piece tonal (the key being F# Major).
**The top PDF is the score, the bottom PDF is the matrices I used for my parts.**
4 Matrices for String Quartet - MIDI File
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