Composer
I composed these two pieces for mezzo-soprano LaToya Lain and pianist Casey Robards. These texts about love made such an impact on me that I just had to share them with as many people as possible. Download the score: Sufi Songs
Composed for Katherine Crawford and given its premiere performance at Electronic Music Midwest in 2013. The poetry is by Robert Fanning and is included in the score. Special thanks to the Freesound.org users ethang, laureci, ephemeral-rift, and sandyrb for their sonic contributions and to Laura Patterson whose live performance of my piece All My Dreams are Silent …
In late 2012, I challenged myself to write a new vocal composition each week. I dubbed the project “Lied Time” and while I tried my best, I only managed to complete a handful of compositions. This haiku was just so lovely and perfect, I couldn’t resist doing anything but a simple setting. Download the score: perfect …
In late 2012, I challenged myself to write a new vocal composition each week. I dubbed the project “Lied Time” and while I tried my best, I only managed to complete a handful of compositions. When I was an undergraduate, I tried to set this poem by A. E. Housman and it didn’t go very …
In late 2012, I challenged myself to write a new vocal composition each week. I dubbed the project “Lied Time” and while I tried my best, I only managed to complete a handful of compositions. This short work was the first: a bawdy limerick. It isn’t very polite; consider yourself warned! Download the score: Limerick
I have this collection of poetry from Pitt Press that I’ve been reading and reading since about 1992. A few poems by Ted Kooser caught my mind and I filed them away for a future text setting. When Katherine Crawford asked me to write a piece for her and electronics, I decided to finally act …
For Christmas in 1992, my future in-laws gave me a poetry collection from the Pitt Poetry Series. A few of Bill Knott’s poems were in this collection and I’ve been a fan of his work ever since. These poems are some of my favorite short poems from his collection Laugh at the End of the …
Well, I’ve decided to be bold and start a “Song a Week” project I’m calling Lied Time. I talk about the idea in some detail over at my Sequenza21 blog, but long story short: I’m going to compose a new short piece for voice every week and put it up on said blog. If you …
A 10 minute chamber opera for two voices, piano, and string quartet. Cast: L (mezzo); C (baritone) The scenario Secrets and Waffles is the first completed installment in the forthcoming series titled Tales from the Waffle Shack. This work is the second dramatic collaboration, but the first musical one, between composer Jay C. Batzner and …