to hope again

clarinet and string quartet

Commissioned by Vandoren for the 2015 Emerging Artist Competition, this intensely expressive and energetic work for clarinet and string quartet is in two connected movements. Premiered by Christopher Pell and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra String Quartet in Indianapolis in March 2015.

upon finding absence

clarinet, alto saxophone, and piano

Commissioned by David Gould and Matt Sintchak for the Fuse Trio, this work for clarinet, saxophone, and piano was written in memory of saxophonist and dear friend Scott Rademacher. Premiered in 2014 at the North American Saxophone Alliance conference at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and performed at the 2015 World Saxophone Congress in Strasbourg, France.

At Love's End

baritone voice, flute, clarinet, viola, and cello

A setting of three poems by John G. Neihardt for baritone voice, flute, clarinet, viola, and cello. Commissioned by the Nebraska Chamber Players and premiered in 2016.

Quintet for Flute, Clarinet, Viola, Cello, and Piano

flute, clarinet, viola, cello, and piano

Sonorous, rich and passionate work in three movements. Composed in memory of my father.

Trio for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano

An emotionally intense and lyrical work in three movements. This work has been featured in live performance on Wisconsin Public Radio. Visit the Audio/Video page to hear a live performance of the second movement with clarinetist Christian Ellenwood, Cellist Robert DeMaine (principal, LA Phil), and pianist MyungHee Chung.

resounding depths

violin, clarinet, horn, and piano (alternate version for flute, clarinet, cello and piano available)

A colorful and melodious piece for violin, clarinet, horn, and piano, featuring lilting sections in 5/8 meter. Very popular—has received performances worldwide, from Canada to Hong Kong to Turkey. Inspired by a Rainer Maria Rilke love poem.

Fantasy Piece for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano

clarinet, viola, and piano

A richly colored work, featuring a tonal vocabulary steeped in late 19th century tradition. Commissioned by the MacDowell Music Club of Janesville, Wisconsin, this piece has been performed at many venues nationally, including ClarinetFest.

and the world, opening

viola and piano

This work was commissioned by violist Michael Hall, who premiered the work in 2012. This intense and lyrical meditation is an expression of a personal, profound, and deepening awareness of opening one’s heart and one’s life to love, to compassion, and to the natural world—and, in the process of this personal opening, sensing that the world opens and reveals itself to us.

after you flew away

trumpet, horn, and piano

This poignant and elegiac work was composed for Dr. Frank Hanson and Linda Kimball—and dedicated to the memory of our dear friend, Dr. Robin Fellows. Broad melodies, lilting mixed meter, and a rich harmonic texture highlight this 7-minute work.

Elegy

clarinet, cello and piano

Written in memory of jazz pianist Russ Gibson, this intensely emotional movement features surprising harmonic shifts and a vocabulary steeped in the jazz tradition.

Lopsided Love Song

clarinet and cello (alternate version for violin and cello available)

A vivacious and tuneful rondo for clarinet and cello, featuring an ever-changing framework of lopsided meters!

Ballad

clarinet, cello, and piano

An original slow jazzy ballad tune, with a fast and contrasting Latin section in the middle of the movement.

Meditations for Flute and Violin

An intricate and melodically intertwining work in three contrasting movements: 1) prairie horizon; 2) when I said goodbye (in my heart); and 3) (re)joining the flow. Composed for dear friends Dr. Robin Fellows and Leanne Kelso League.

when souls touch

flute and violin

A pensive and atmospheric work, featuring an expansive first movement and a melodious and dancing second movement. Composed for dear friends Dr. Robin Fellows and Leanne Kelso League.

Suite for Violin and Piano

A passionate and lyrical work, comprised of three melodious and emotionally contrasting movements: 1) remembrance; 2) loss, yearning; and 3) hope.

and the freed heart, singing

violin and piano

A deeply tender and passionate meditation for violin and piano, approximately 8 minutes in duration.

if ever there is tomorrow

symphonic band

This richly textured, melodious and eloquent one-movement work was premiered at Carnegie Hall in 2013 at the New York Wind Band Festival by Dr. Glenn Hayes and the UW–Whitewater Symphonic Wind Ensemble. 

prairie spring

SATB choir and string orchestra

A rich and emotional setting of Willa Cather's poem "Prairie Spring." I am a proud native Nebraskan, and I grew up with a deep love of the prairie landscape that Cather experienced in her youth—a vast sweep of land and sky, stretching towards infinity, with an ever-present wind blowing across an undulating ocean of grass. Cather’s poem describes eternal cycles of growth, toil, yearning, and regeneration—cycles and stories as infinite and eternal as the landscape, and perfectly joined with it. Commissioned by Dr. Robert Gehrenbeck and the UW–Whitewater Chamber Singers.

Lullaby for Carson

SATB choir

Commissioned by Dr. Robert Gehrenbeck the UW–Whitewater Chamber Singers 2010 European Tour. This is a choral setting of a lullaby I composed for my firstborn son.

Lullaby for Emerson

SATB choir

Commissioned by Dr. Robert Gehrenbeck the UW–Whitewater Chamber Singers 2010 European Tour. This is a choral setting of a lullaby I composed for my second son.

The Circle is Wide

SSA choir and string orchestra

A lush and tender choral setting of an original text. Commissioned by Eisenhower High School (New Berlin, WI) for a 2009 tour of Costa Rica.