Composer
PDFs of my work
All My Thoughts are the Same started as four miniatures for solo cello. As I worked on these miniatures, I started to notice certain similarities and connections between the material in each one. For fun, I started to weave back and forth through these short fragments and much to my surprise, it worked. And somehow …
In early 2017 I was experiencing some of the worst burnout I’ve ever had. Stress from all sides of my life was my only companion. I could only focus on what I needed to do an hour at a time, a minute at a time, a moment at a time. I was struggling with just …
This song cycle was composed in 2017 for soprano LaToya Lain and pianist Casey Robards. The text is drawn from the poetry of Elizabeth Browning and was adapted and edited by Aiden Kim Feltkamp. A version for tenor and piano for Joshua May is currently in progress. There are seven songs in the cycle: Insufficiency …
I started composing this song for my friend and colleague Keith Clifton in late 2017. I finally finished the setting in early 2018. The text is taken from a letter written by Alec Guinness while he was on the set of Star Wars. Download the score: Draft of Guinness
I read a lot of comic books and Superman remains one of my favorite characters. Alan Moore and Curt Swan’s Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow is, I think, one of the best Superman stories. The opening prolog of the comic (which is one of the stories portraying Superman’s death) establishes that the book …
This piece was composed for Tracy Watson and the Crescent Duo (Joanna and Kennen White). Based on the poem “Orbs (Word of the Day)” by Joanna White. Download the score: Word of the Day Download the voice/piano version: Word of the Day A recording can be found here!
Stalker is based on the book Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky and was composed for Aaron Ragsdale. In this book, aliens have visited Earth and left strange objects behind in certain “zones” around the globe. Stalkers are black market dealers who enter these zones and procure these rare and often dangerous objects. In …
Composed in the summer of 2015 for Andrew Spencer, All Our Broken Instruments is a musical adaptation of the Robert Fanning poem “May Our Young Find Music in All Our Broken Instruments.” The percussion soloist speaks the poem’s text while playing a mixed batch of instruments and triggering the electroacoustic sounds. Download the score: All …
Abstain Red Hells takes its title from a movement of a forgotten piece of mine for flute and soprano saxophone. The basic idea of a stubborn ostinato and a tense-yet-lyrical melody was played out in the very small scale in this earlier piece and has since been liberated into a bigger and more open musical …
I am eternally grateful to Brent Miller for introducing me to the work of David Lynch and especially the television series Twin Peaks. While I was aware of the show when it was originally on the air I didn’t watch it until Brent demanded I do so. I’ve been a fan ever since (although I …