smooth, pluck, whirl (2025) for solo violin (listen)

Harlem Dance Hall: The Savoy (2024)
for Pierrot ensemble

Duration: 16 minutes
Premiere: October 15, 2024, Copland House Ensemble, Louisville, Kentucky

Commissioned by the Barlow Endowment and written for the Copland House Ensemble, this two-movement suite draws inspiration from the iconic Savoy Ballroom and the vibrant dance culture of the Harlem Renaissance. Just as Aaron Copland paid tribute to Mexican folk traditions in El Salón México, this work reimagines historic dances like the “Snakehips” and “Happy Feet” through a contemporary lens—capturing both the unrestrained joy of the era and its deeper emotional complexity. Rather than replicate jazz idioms, the music celebrates Black cultural expression with vivid textures, rhythmic drive, and a spirit of transformation.

Redlin[ing] (2024)
for Pierrot ensemble & Percussion

Duration: 11.5 minutes
Premiere: October 2, 2024, Picosa, Chicago, Illinois

Commissioned by Picosa and supported by a Chamber Music America grant, Redlin[ing] is a dynamic work for Pierrot ensemble with percussion that confronts the legacy of discriminatory housing practices in cities like Chicago. Infused with the urgency of urban life and shaped by the symbolism of the city’s Red Line train, the piece reflects on cycles of segregation and injustice—interweaving spiritual and patriotic quotations as markers of both protest and remembrance. Part of a broader series of musical commentaries on social inequity, Redlin[ing] is meant to resonate far beyond the concert hall, inviting reflection on the systems that shape our communities.

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Rise (2023)
for Wind Quintet

Duration:
Premiere: January 21, 2024, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Wind Quintet, Linton Chamber Music Series, Cincinnati, Ohio

Unfolding as a musical journey through the ongoing struggle for racial justice, the piece offers three movements that reflect on progress, unity, and collective resolve. From the urgent momentum of Seeds to the lyrical yearning of Deep Harmony and the rousing call to action in Spark!, it invites listeners to imagine change—and to take part in it. Commissioned by the Linton Chamber Music Series with the generous support of Ann Santen in honor of her husband Harry Santen’s 95th birthday, it is co-commissioned by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Chamber Music Northwest, Phoenix Chamber Music Society, Adelante Winds, the Black Student Union of the Cleveland Institute of Music, Imani Winds, and the New York Wind Quintet.

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Black Music (2023)
for Saxophone Quartet and Trumpet

Duration: 14 minutes
Premiere: February 18, 2024, Fulcrum Point New Music Project with ~Nois Saxophone Quartet, Chicago, Illinois

This vibrant, multidimensional work reflects the richness of Black artistry, experience, and sound. Across three contrasting movements—rhythmic and contrapuntal, lyrical and reflective, angular and electric—it honors traditions ranging from funk to bebop while exploring the color black both visually and metaphorically. Commissioned by Fulcrum Point New Music Project with support from The Walder Foundation, the piece was written for Stephen Burns and the acclaimed saxophone quartet Nois.

The Spiral (2022)
for Flute, Oboe & Piano

Duration: 9.5 minutes

Commissioned by Trio Village, this energetic trio for oboe, flute, and piano takes inspiration from Vladimir Nabokov’s idea of the spiral as a “spiritualized circle”—a symbol of freedom, growth, and release from repetition. Through shifting timbres, rhythms, and tonalities, the piece explores the journey from constraint to transformation, anchored by a meditative central passage that reflects on the power of breaking free. Spiraling forward rather than circling back, the music embraces change as a dynamic and nonlinear force.

There is Always Light (2021)
for Clarinet, Bassoon & Marimba

Duration: 10 minutes

Commissioned by clarinetist Erin Fung and bassoonist Christopher Sales, this trio for clarinet, bassoon, and marimba is a reflection on racial injustice and a search for hope in the face of grief and violence. Inspired in part by Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem The Hill We Climb and grounded by the enduring words of the spiritual Gospel Plow, the piece balances sorrow and resilience, asking what it means to “hold on” when hope feels distant. Its title comes from Gorman’s stirring reminder: “For there is always light / if only we’re brave enough to see it / if only we’re brave enough to be it.”

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lulllaby | ballad | spiritual (2021)
for Flute, Oboe & Bassoon

Duration: 10 minutes

Commissioned by Elicio Winds at Auburn University, this trio for flute, oboe, and bassoon draws on Alabama’s rich musical heritage, reimagining three traditional songs—a lullaby, a ballad, and a spiritual—across a three-movement suite. From the gentle rocking of My Mama’s Sweet Baby Boy to the lyrical melancholy of The Blind Child’s Prayer and the spirited dialogue of Scandalizin’ My Name, the piece honors Southern folk traditions through a blend of tenderness, abstraction, and rhapsodic intensity. Each movement offers a distinct emotional lens, illuminating the stories and voices embedded in Alabama’s musical past.

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Fractured Water (2019)
for Flute, Cello & Piano (All players doubling on water percussion)

Duration: 9 minutes

Commissioned by Fifth House Ensemble for their Rivers Empyrean series, this trio for flute, cello, and piano—with each performer also playing water percussion—explores the life cycle of water and the urgent realities of pollution and conservation. Inspired by the Chicago River, whose historic reversal echoes through the piece in subtle retrogrades, the music engages three narratives: concern, conflict, and hope. Anchored by a quiet reference to the spiritual Down in the River to Pray, the work is both a reflection on environmental fragility and a call to renewal.

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Distance (2016)
for Cello & Marimba

Duration: 12 minutes

Composed in memory of Roger Lundin—a beloved teacher, scholar, and friend—this elegy for cello and marimba is inspired by Miho Nonaka’s poem Distance, written in Roger’s honor. The instrumentation reflects his quiet strength and depth, while musical quotations from Prepare Me One Body and For All the Saints pay tribute to his faith, humility, and devotion. Evoking themes of body, breath, grace, and memory, the work is dedicated to Roger’s wife, Susan Lundin.

X (2014)
for Percussion Ensemble

Duration: 9.5 minutes

Though titled X, the work does not reference a numeral, letter, or figure—but rather the Greek symbol for Christ, drawn from a 19th-century Salvation Army hymn, Christ is All. Evoking the industrial chaos and spiritual yearning of Victorian London, the piece unfolds with rhythmic intensity and sonic harshness before gradually giving way to the serenity of the hymn. It’s a musical meditation on darkness and redemption, culminating in a peaceful affirmation of grace, light, and hope.

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CryptOlogiE (2014)
for Flute, Clarinet, Violin & Piano

Duration: 8.5 minutes

This vibrant quintet is a deeply personal work, inspired by the composer’s wife and two daughters. Built from serial pitch sets based on their birthdays, Morse code rhythms that spell names, and recurring pitches tied to their initials, the piece is a playful and affectionate puzzle—full of color, structure, and heart. Reflecting the personalities of its muses, it’s energetic, sweet, and meticulously crafted.

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Claptrap (2009)
for Flute & Percussion

Two Inventions (2006)
for Flute & Bassoon

The Red Wheelbarrow (2006)
Piano Quartet

Yellow Einstein (2005)
for Amplified Large Chamber Ensemble