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Concert Band / Wind Ensemble
Grade 4
Armada - This work is based on an 8-measure theme that, after harmonized in a slow, opening fanfare, is stated more clearly in the low brass and woodwinds, and provides the basis for much of the rest of the work. The piece is well-suited to a junior high or high school band.
Aurora Fanfare - I wrote this piece after my daughter, Madison, was born. The title is in reference to the word "aurora" as used to indicate the dawn, or a beginning, as her birth was a new beginning for my wife and I.
Overdrive - Commissioned by Mark Surovchak for the Belle Vernon Area Freshman Band in Belle Vernon, PA, the piece is based on a simple three-note motif, and makes use of multiple melodic and rhythmic percussion instruments, including some (optional) four-mallet playing. Serves as a great opener to a concert!
Grade 5
Event Horizon - This piece won the 2015 Pennsylvania Music Educator's Association (PMEA) Composition Contest in the adult PMEA member category, and was premiered at the state conference by the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Dr. Jack Stamp. Opening with a powerful introduction, it goes through several different but related themes, and gives nearly every section of the ensemble a chance to shine, and eventually brings the work to a high-intensity close.
Magnitude - Dr. Jason Worzbyt asked me to write this piece as a concert opener for the Westmoreland Symphonic Wind's 2010 season, and receieved its world premiere that fall with the ensemble. The word "magnitude" refers to the "great size or extent of something" but can also refer to the amount of energy released by an earthquake, and I considered both uses of the term when writing this piece. Ironically, it's also used when measuring the brightness of a star in the sky, and as much as I love space and its terminology -- i.e., Event Horizon -- I didn't think of writing the piece in astronomical terms. Rather, I had a more "cataclysmic" image in mind, hence the initial "eruption" at the beginning of the piece, plus various tam-tam "explosions" throughout.
Magnitude is available to purchase from Murphy Music Press, LLC.
Sinfonia Concertante for Two Pianos and Wind Ensemble - In late 2015, I was commissioned by a good friend of mine, Josh Bartz, directors of bands at Portage Northern High School in Portage, MI, to write a work for band that featured two piano soloists, as he had at the time two very talented senior pianists. They premiered the piece in the spring of 2016, and later that year in December, it was performed again by the IUP Symphony Band under Dr. Jason Worzbyt. In January, the Symphony Band also recorded it for their yearly promotional album, and the CD was released in the fall of 2017!
I have also arranged a version of this piece for one piano soloist and wind ensemble.
Sinfonietta in d minor - This was the first complete work I have ever written for band (or at least the first one I'm willing to let anyone listen to!). The first movement is based on a 4-note motif that can be heard immediately by the concert bells. The second movement is called "Variations", not "Theme and Variations", because the actual theme it is based on isn't clearly stated except for one brief moment in the euphonium at the very end of the piece. The third movement, "Rondo", was actually the first one of the three written. It follows the traditional "A-B-A-C-A" rondo format, though the "C" theme of the movement is the "Elegy" chorale from the first movement, stated in the full ensemble before the rondo theme returns for one final push to the finale.
I. Elegy and Alleliua
II. Variations
III. Rondo
Then Sings My Soul was commissioned by my wife, Jamie Gore, for her band at Southmoreland High School to celebrate the retirement of Superintendent Dr. Jack Molnar, who had been a tremendous supporter of the music program in the district. Knowing that Dr. Molnar was an active member of his church choir, she was about to find out what some of his favorite hymns were, and I selected two from that list to base this piece on: "How Great Thou Art" and "Amazing Grace". The piece is primarily based on the former, and gets the title from the lyrics ("Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee, How great Thou art, How great Thou art"). It has a slower introduction with a traditional statement of the hymn, into a faster section based on some of the melodic material from the hymn, then into a slower middle section that is based on, but not quoting exactly, Amazing Grace. The faster section then returns, and leads into one more full ensemble statement of "How Great Thou Art" which then, for the first time in the work, states the entire melody of Amazing Grace at the same time as "How Great Thou Art" -- I'm a bit of a sucker for simultaneous recapitulations.
Then Sings My Soul is available to purchase from Murphy Music Press, LLC.
Grade 6
Concerto for Piano and Wind Ensemble
I. Prelude and Dance
II. Elegy
III. Toccata Concertante
Per Oculis Dei
Armada - This work is based on an 8-measure theme that, after harmonized in a slow, opening fanfare, is stated more clearly in the low brass and woodwinds, and provides the basis for much of the rest of the work. The piece is well-suited to a junior high or high school band.
Aurora Fanfare - I wrote this piece after my daughter, Madison, was born. The title is in reference to the word "aurora" as used to indicate the dawn, or a beginning, as her birth was a new beginning for my wife and I.
Overdrive - Commissioned by Mark Surovchak for the Belle Vernon Area Freshman Band in Belle Vernon, PA, the piece is based on a simple three-note motif, and makes use of multiple melodic and rhythmic percussion instruments, including some (optional) four-mallet playing. Serves as a great opener to a concert!
Grade 5
Event Horizon - This piece won the 2015 Pennsylvania Music Educator's Association (PMEA) Composition Contest in the adult PMEA member category, and was premiered at the state conference by the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Dr. Jack Stamp. Opening with a powerful introduction, it goes through several different but related themes, and gives nearly every section of the ensemble a chance to shine, and eventually brings the work to a high-intensity close.
Magnitude - Dr. Jason Worzbyt asked me to write this piece as a concert opener for the Westmoreland Symphonic Wind's 2010 season, and receieved its world premiere that fall with the ensemble. The word "magnitude" refers to the "great size or extent of something" but can also refer to the amount of energy released by an earthquake, and I considered both uses of the term when writing this piece. Ironically, it's also used when measuring the brightness of a star in the sky, and as much as I love space and its terminology -- i.e., Event Horizon -- I didn't think of writing the piece in astronomical terms. Rather, I had a more "cataclysmic" image in mind, hence the initial "eruption" at the beginning of the piece, plus various tam-tam "explosions" throughout.
Magnitude is available to purchase from Murphy Music Press, LLC.
Sinfonia Concertante for Two Pianos and Wind Ensemble - In late 2015, I was commissioned by a good friend of mine, Josh Bartz, directors of bands at Portage Northern High School in Portage, MI, to write a work for band that featured two piano soloists, as he had at the time two very talented senior pianists. They premiered the piece in the spring of 2016, and later that year in December, it was performed again by the IUP Symphony Band under Dr. Jason Worzbyt. In January, the Symphony Band also recorded it for their yearly promotional album, and the CD was released in the fall of 2017!
I have also arranged a version of this piece for one piano soloist and wind ensemble.
Sinfonietta in d minor - This was the first complete work I have ever written for band (or at least the first one I'm willing to let anyone listen to!). The first movement is based on a 4-note motif that can be heard immediately by the concert bells. The second movement is called "Variations", not "Theme and Variations", because the actual theme it is based on isn't clearly stated except for one brief moment in the euphonium at the very end of the piece. The third movement, "Rondo", was actually the first one of the three written. It follows the traditional "A-B-A-C-A" rondo format, though the "C" theme of the movement is the "Elegy" chorale from the first movement, stated in the full ensemble before the rondo theme returns for one final push to the finale.
I. Elegy and Alleliua
II. Variations
III. Rondo
Then Sings My Soul was commissioned by my wife, Jamie Gore, for her band at Southmoreland High School to celebrate the retirement of Superintendent Dr. Jack Molnar, who had been a tremendous supporter of the music program in the district. Knowing that Dr. Molnar was an active member of his church choir, she was about to find out what some of his favorite hymns were, and I selected two from that list to base this piece on: "How Great Thou Art" and "Amazing Grace". The piece is primarily based on the former, and gets the title from the lyrics ("Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee, How great Thou art, How great Thou art"). It has a slower introduction with a traditional statement of the hymn, into a faster section based on some of the melodic material from the hymn, then into a slower middle section that is based on, but not quoting exactly, Amazing Grace. The faster section then returns, and leads into one more full ensemble statement of "How Great Thou Art" which then, for the first time in the work, states the entire melody of Amazing Grace at the same time as "How Great Thou Art" -- I'm a bit of a sucker for simultaneous recapitulations.
Then Sings My Soul is available to purchase from Murphy Music Press, LLC.
Grade 6
Concerto for Piano and Wind Ensemble
I. Prelude and Dance
II. Elegy
III. Toccata Concertante
Per Oculis Dei
Chamber Works
Shadowcrest
Dance Suite for Brass Quintet I. Blues and Reds II. Shades of Crimson III. Sketches in Silver Essay for Woodwind Quartet |
Other Works
Paradigm for Clarinet and Piano
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