One-Eleven Heavy: A Chamber Opera EP

Available everywhere for purchase and streaming is my first album One-Eleven Heavy, a short opera originally written for the 2014 Opera From Scratch program in Nova Scotia and since expanded, orchestrated, and recorded with ensemble Hotel Elefant (conducted by David Bloom) and featuring guest soloists soprano Jenny Ribeiro and Grammy Award-winning tenor Karim Sulayman.

Purchase now: new art songs for mezzo-soprano and tenor

Several recent publications of new vocal music have included art songs by me: Without A Thorn is available through the NewMusicShelf Anthology of New Music for Mezzo-Soprano, Vol 1. and Yesterday in Modern Music for New Singers: Tenor Vol. 2 from North Star Music.

Young Dancemakers Company

Every July brings about a collaboration with Young Dancemakers Company. During several whirlwind several weeks, I and several other composers meet a company of incredibly talented young dancers and choreographers to collaborate on original works that are then taken on tour around the city’s boroughs.

This year I worked with choreographer Shahab Aldeeb, creating a musical score that careens through a teenager’s ever-changing emotions during the course of a day while drawing on sonic inspiration from some musical heroes like Beyoncé, Ariana, and Rihanna.

Performances culminated at the Finale Concert on Friday, August 2 at the Ailey Citigroup Theater (video below).

Babe Not Mine (Fairy Lullaby)

My very longtime collaborator and friend, soprano Jenny Ribeiro, asked me to contribute a new work for her masters recital at Michigan State University last April. Together we delved into some common interests for subjects and eventually settled on a (translated) Gaelic text that we loved. We were drawn to the subject: a lullaby with a dark fairy-imbued twist.

Diana and Narcissus at New West Opera

There’s nothing like a visit to the west coast during the depressing late winter months—except when LA is even colder than NYC, as it was during the New Opera West Pop-Up Festival last March. Despite the chill, it was a pleasure to be in attendance at and meet the cast and creative team of NOW for the production of my mini-opera Diana and Narcissus, written with playwright Jami Brandli. Maria Elena Altany and Jon Lee Keenan were as hysterical to watch as they were a joy to listen to, and director Christopher Halsted was a whiz with timing and props.

Yesterday broadcast by the Pittsburgh Camerata

Tenor Timothy Stoddard had a request for me in late 2021: could I transpose my aria Yesterday up from baritone to tenor so he could perform it? Why would I possibly say no? This piece sits so well with his gorgeous voice—and the church acoustics don’t hurt, either. Broadcast in 2022 as part of a virtual concert "We Remember (people, places, experiences).”

Yesterday is one of a set of operatic art songs/arias written in residence with The American Opera Project’s Composers & the Voice program; the others are here.

Making a sonic sandwich with all my faves

When Clover Nahabedian (of opera/theater company Strange Trace and record label Dollhouse Lightning) asked me to guest on her podcast Song Sandwich, I took the opportunity to nerd out by dissecting some of my all-time favorite tracks, including music by Björk, Portishead, and Joanna Newsom.

Clover was also responsible for directing and editing my opera Music of the Goddess, premiered at Strange Trace’s Stencils Festival in 2021 and later released by Dollhouse Lightning.