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Program notes: When visiting Spain last year, it was an essential that I go see the Reina Sofia museum of art, which mainly features modern paintings, photography, and installations of Spanish artists. When I first looked upon Monument aux espagnols mourt por la France, I knew that I wanted to write a response to the paintings of Pablo Picasso. Mainly incorporating works from Picasso’s cubism period, the series of short movements provides a glimpse into my thoughts when looking at and contemplating the works. These include: 1. Girl before a Mirror This piece begins and closes the work, because there are two wildly contrasting, yet eerily similar, images in this work. The girl staring at herself in the mirror is strong, vibrant, happy, and full of life, yet in her eyes there is a hint of pure apathy as she considers her image in the mirror. 2. Le Pigeon Aux Petit Pois Humorously pictures a group of pigeons fighting for food at a standard café. 3. Mounment aux espagnols mourt por la France Picasso was an ardent communist, not necessarily a follow of Soviet interests, especially after Party criticism of his portrait of Stalin. He strongly opposed United Nations interventionism and war in general. Here he paints a memorial for Spanish soldiers who died in France. 4. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon A work portraying five nude female prostitutes on Carrer D’Aviyno in Barcelona. Each figure is presented in a very confrontational manner, seemingly attempting to entice a passerby to engage in her services. 5. Girl before a Mirror A refrain of the first movement that highlights the ugliness, dying, and darkened color of the girl’s mirror image. Nearly identical to the first, the dissonance in the strings exposes the girls innermost thoughts as she confronts herself in the mirror.Vive 5.mp3

I enjoyed the piece. There are two things I have suggestions on: 1. The string solo in 00:30 and 1:40 sounds between real and synthethic. I would make it sound one or another. 2. The climax is a bit too much (dense).

Stargazer - Score.pdf Hi all, Here's my entry in the Winter 2017 competition. It is titled Stargazer and written for concert band. Here's the story: We begin with a young sci-fi fan looking up at the stars, imagining the possibilities they hold. His gaze darts from constellation to constellation, contemplating the characters embodied in each. He thinks about the possibility of venturing out to those stars one day and setting foot on a strange new world. As sleep comes, he closes his eyes and suddenly finds himself aboard a spaceship about to rocket away from the Earth. As the ship travels towards the stars, he feels the freedom of flight. Soon, they reach a strange new world and he is asked to explore it! He journeys out into the rough landscape, searching for new life. Following a faint glow, our young explorer enters a cave and finds a beautiful treasure. He studies it and decides to take it back to the ship so the others can see. With explorer and treasure safely aboard, the ship leaves the planet. It soon enters a strange realm, haunted by the spirits of composers. It is the place from which musical ideas emerge. Musical fragments drift around the ship half-formed, waiting to be brought forward by a composer. Soon, though, the ghost of a particular composer comes forth and there is silence. The ship shakes, rocked by a shockwave. Our young explorer looks up to see an alien ship attacking. The battle has begun! As he maneuvers the ship, the captain has our young explorer man the weapons. The ship rocks again and again as the two vessels trade fire, but our young explorer’s aim is true and soon the attackers are driven off. Feeling victorious, the captain orders the ship to resume course. Quickly though, they discover their alien pursuers are back as the ship is rocked by another hit. Once again on the weapons, our young explorer delivers a crippling shot to the alien craft, driving it off for good. The crew of the ship enjoys their moment of victory while the captain determines where they should go next. Our story ends as the ship, and our young explorer, depart for their next adventure. Hope you enjoy it!