Works List
Art Songs
English Romantic Songs (2009)
Voice and Piano 5 min. total
I. Music, when soft voices die. 2 min.
For Ann Moss, Soprano
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 – 1822)
Music, when soft voices die,
Vibrates in the memory;
Odours, when sweet violets sicken,
Life within the sense they quicken.
Rose leaves, when the rose is dead,
are heaped, heaped for the beloved’s bed;
and so thy thoughts, when thou art gone.
Love itself shall slumber on.
II. Asleep! O sleep a little while, white pearl! 3 min.
First Prize, 2009 San Francisco Conservatory Artsong Competition
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John Keats (1795 – 1821)
Asleep! O sleep a little while, white pearl!
And let me kneel, and let me pray to thee,
And let me call Heaven’s blessing on thine eyes,
And let me breathe into the happy air
That doth enfold and touch thee all about,
Vows of my slavery, my giving up,
My sudden adoration, my great love!
When You Are Old (2007)
Baritone and Piano 2 ½ min.
William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)
When you are old and gray and full of sleep
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true;
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face.
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead,
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
Four Dickinson Songs (2007)
Soprano and Piano 11 min. total
I. I’m nobody! Who are you? 2 min.
Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886)
I’m nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there’s a pair of us — don’t tell!
They’d advertise — you know!
How dreary to be somebody!
How public like a frog
To tell one’s name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!
II. Fame is a Bee. 2 min.
Fame is a bee.
It has a song—
It has a sting—
Ah, too, it has a wing.
Emily Dickinson
Bee! I’m expecting you!
III. Bee! I’m Expecting you! 3 min.
Bee! I’m expecting you!
Was saying Yesterday
To Somebody you know
That you were due—
The Frogs got Home last Week—
Are settled, and at work—
Birds, mostly back—
The Clover warm and thick—
You’ll get my Letter by
The seventeenth; Reply
Or better, be with me—
Yours, Fly.
IV. The cricket sang. 4 min.
The Cricket sang,
And set the sun,
And workmen finished, one by one,
Their seam the day upon.
The low grass loaded with the dew,
The twilight stood as strangers do
With hat in hand, polite and new,
To stay as if, or go.
A vastness, as a neighbor, came,—
A wisdom without face or name,
A peace, as hemispheres at home,—
And so the night became.
Chamber Music
A Walk At Dusk (2011)
Clarinet in Bb and String Quartet 7 min.
Trio Without Words (2011)
Violin, Cello, Piano 10 min.
I. Flowing, gracefully 5 min.
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II. Fast, flying 2 min.
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III. Slow, with tranquility 3 min.
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Homage for Solo Cello (2008)
Solo Cello 7 min.
For Hallie Pridham
Homage for Violin and Viola (2008)
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Violin and Viola 9 ½ min.
For Mac Kim and Jason Diggs
Homage for String Quartet (2008)
String Quartet 4 min.
For the Ives Quartet
Cantique (2008)
Two Pianos 12 min.
Rocket Dreams (2006)
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Solo Piano 4 ½ min.
For Jack Kurutz
Death (2005)
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Baritone, Flute, and String Quintet 5 min.
William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)
Nor dread nor hope attend
A dying animal;
A man awaits his end
Dreading and hoping all;
Many times he died,
Many times rose again.
A great man in his pride
Confronting murderous men
Casts derision upon
Supersession of breath;
He knows death to the bone –
Man has created death.
Brass Quintet (2005)
Brass Quintet 6 ½ min. Total
I. Chorale – Invention 2 min.
II. Dirge 1 min.
III. March – Cacophony 3 ½ min.
Saxes and Strings (2005)
Saxophone Quart. and String Quint. 5 ½ min.
String Quartet No. 1 (2004)
String Quartet 2 ½ min.
For Quarteto Latino Americano
Flute Sonata (2003)
Flute and Piano 8 min. total
For Anusha Balasubramanian
I. Espressivo con rubato 3 min.
II. Espressivo 2 ½ min.
III. Dancing 2 ½ min.
Choral (Sacred)
Two Prayers for the Sabbath Evening (2011)
Cantor, SATB Chorus, and Piano 9 min. total
The Guild of Temple Musicians
Young Composer’s Award, 2011-2012
I. V’shamru 4 min.
Shemot 31:16-17
et HaShabbat,
laasot et HaShabbat l’dorotam
b’rit olam.
Beini u’vein b’nei Yisrael
ot hi l’olam,
ki sheishet yamim asah Adonai
et hashamayim v’et haaretz,
u’vayom hashvi-i shavat vayinafash.
Shabbat,
observing Shabbat throughout the ages
as a covenant for all time.
Between Me and the people of Israel,
it is a sign for all time.
For in six days Adonai made
heaven and earth,
and of the seventh day God ceased from work
and was refreshed.
II. Oseh Shalom 5 min.
The American Choral Directors Association,
Raymond W. Brock Memorial Student Composition Contest
Job 25:2
hu yaaseh shalom aleinu
v’al kol Yisrael, v’imru: Amen.
let peace descend on us
and on all Israel, and let us say: Amen.
May the Words of My Mouth (2010)
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SATB Chorus 3 1/2 min.
Winner, The National Lutheran Choir,
25th Anniversary Choral Composition Competition, 2011
Psalm 19: 15
vehegyon libi lefanecha
Adonai tsuri vegoali:
Amen.
and the meditations of my heart,
be acceptable in thy sight,
O God, my rock, and my redeemer.
Amen.
Psalm of Praise (2008)
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SSAATTBB Choir 5 min.
For the 150th Anniversary of Church of the Advent of Christ the King,
San Francisco, California
Psalm 51: 15
Adonai, sefatai’ tiftach’, ufi’ yagid’ tehilate’cha.
Domine, labia mea aperiēs: et os meum annuntiabit laudem tuam.
O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.
De Profundis (2008)
SATB Choir 3 min.
For Church of the Advent of Christ the King, San Francisco, CA
Psalm 130: 1, 2, 8
Domine, exaudi vocem meam.
Fiant aures tuae intendentes
In vocem deprecationis meae.
Et ipse redimet Israel
Ex omnibus iniquitatibus eius.
Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears consider well
The voice of my supplication.
And he shall redeem Israel
From all their iniquities.
V’shamru (2007)
SATB Choir and Cantor 3 min.
For Cantor Emmanuel Perlman’s 10th Anniversary as Cantor at Chizuk Amuno Synagogue, Baltimore, Maryland
Shemot 31:16-17
V’sham’ru v’nei Yisarel et haShabbat laasot et haShabbat l’dorotam b’rit olam
And the Children of Yisrael shall keep the Sabbath, to make the Sabbath an eternal covenant for their generations.
Benei uvein benei Yisarel ot hi l’olam ki sheshet yamim asah Hashem et hashamayim v’et ha-aretz uvayom hash’vi’i shavat vayinafash
Between Me and the Children of Yisrael it is a sign forever that in six days Hashem made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.
Mussaf Kedushah (2004)
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TTBB Choir and Cantor 3 ½ min.
Dedicated to Cantor Moshe Taube, Maurice “Tido” Braunstein, and the member of the Beth Shalom Choir, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Student Composer Project Winner
Shalshelet Second International Festival of New Jewish Liturgical Music
Isaiah 6:3
Adonai ts-va-ot
m’lo kol ha-aretz k’vodo.
K’vodo malei olam,
m’shar’tav sho-alim zeh la-zeh
ayei m’kum k’vodo.
L’umatam baruch yomeiru:
Baruch kavod Adonai mim’komo.
Mim’komo hu yifen b’rachamim,
v’yachon am ham’yachadim sh’mo;
erev vavoker, b’chawl yom tamid,
pa-amayim b’ahava sh’ma omrim:
Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echod.
Lord God of Hosts
heaven and earth are full of thy glory.
His glory fills the universe,
his ministering angels ask one another
“Where is his glorious place?”
They say to one another: Blessed
Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his abode.
From his abode may he turn with compassion,
and be gracious to the people who acclaim his oneness;
evening and morning, twice every day,
and with tender affection recite the shema:
Hear Oh Israel, The Lord Our God, The Lord is One.
Choral (Secular)
With A Greeting (2011)
SSAATTBB Chorus 6 min.
Commissioned by The Esoterics; Eric Banks, founding director
For the POLYPHONOS Young Composer Prize, 2011
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Afanasy Fet (1820 – 1892)
(Russian)
Ras-ska-zat’, shto son-tse fsta-lŏ,
Shto ŏ-no gŏ-rya-chim svye-tŏm
Pŏ lis-tam za-trye-pye-ta-lŏ.
Ras-ska-zat’, shto les prŏ-snul-sya,
Ves’ prŏ-snul-sya, vet-koy kazh-dŏy,
Kazh-dŏy pti-tsey fstrye-pye-nul-sya
I vye-syen-nyey po-lŏn zhazh-dŏy.
Ras-ska-zat’, shto s toy zhe stra-styu,
Shto fche-ra, pri-shol ya sno-va,
Shto du-sha fsyo tak zhe shya-styu
I tye-bye slu-zhit’ gŏ-to-va.
Ras-ska-zat’, shto ŏ-tŏ-fsyu-du
Na mye-nya vye-syel’-yem ve-yet,
Shto ne zna-yu sam, shto bu-du
Pyet’ – no pyes-nya zre-yet.
To tell you that the sun has risen,
That its blazing light
Has made the leaves tremble;
To tell you that the forest is awake,
Everything is awake, and upon every branch,
Every bird of the forest stirs
And is filled with the thirst of spring;
To tell you that with the same passion
As yesterday, I come to you again,
And my soul is still joyful
And ready to serve you;
To tell you that everywhere
Happiness is in the air,
And I do not know what I will
Sing – only that a song is ripening.
Shaker Dance Song (2010)
SATB Chorus 2 min.
for Laura Shagalov and Christopher Long,
on the occasion of their wedding,
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Traditional Shaker Song
Like pretty birds among the trees I will be all in motion,
And skip and dance upon the breeze of love and sweet devotion.
For lo it is a happy time, a time of making merry,
Of heavenly comfort all divine and very cheering, very.
Unseen Secrets (2010)
SSAA Chorus and Piano 3 min.
Commissioned by WomenSing, Martin Benvenuto, artistic director through the Marcia Hodges New Music Fund as part of the Youth Inspiring Youth project
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Quinn H. Whitlow (b. 2001)
I hide my secrets in the core of a brick
and on the surface of a star.
I tell my secrets to the unseen spirits around me
and the light rays from the sun.
Secrets live where man cannot go,
in the farthest part of space
and inside a velvet mite.
Two Keats Choruses (2009)
SSAATTBB Chorus 14 min. total
I. The Human Seasons 8 min.
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John Keats (1795 – 1821)
Four Seasons fill the measure of the year;
There are four seasons in the mind of man:
He has his lusty Spring, when fancy clear
Takes in all beauty with an easy span:
He has his Summer, when luxuriously
Spring’s hony’d cud of youthful thought he loves
To ruminate, and by such dreaming high
Is nearest unto heaven: quiet coves
His soul has in its Autumn, when his wings
He furleth close; contented so to look
On mists in idleness–to let fair things
Pass by unheeded as a threshold brook.
He has his Winter too of pale misfeature,
Or else he would forego his mortal nature.
II. The Poetry of Earth 6 min.
Commissioned by Volti, Robert Geary, artistic director
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The poetry of earth is never dead:
When all the birds are faint with the hot sun,
And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run
From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead;
That is the Grasshopper’s – he takes the lead
In summer luxury, – he has never done
With his delights; for when tired out with fun
He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed.
The poetry of earth is ceasing never:
On a lone winter evening, when the frost
Has wrought a silence, from the stove there shrills
The Cricket’s song, in warmth increasing ever,
And seems to one in drowsiness half lost,
The Grasshopper’s among some grassy hills.
Don’t You Worry (2006)
SATB Choir 3 min.
For Carnegie Mellon Jazz Vocal Ensemble, Thomas Douglass, Artistic Director
August Wilson (1945 – 2005)
I done give you everything I had to give you. I gave you your life! Don’t you try and go through life worrying about if somebody like you or not. You best be making sure they doing right by you. You understand what I’m saying, boy?
The Underground (2004)
TTBB Choir 2 ½ min.
For the CMU Originals
W.H. Auden (1907 – 1973)
The underground roads
Are, as the dead prefer them,
Always tortuous.
Melliphony (2003)
SSAATTBB Choir 2 ½ min.
Large Ensemble
Cantique (2009)
Chamber Orchestra 12 min.
For the San Francisco Conservatory New Music Ensemble, Nicole Paiement, conductor
Pastoral Landscape (2009)
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Orchestra 8 min.
Chamber Fantasy (2007)
Chamber Orchestra 4 ½ min.
For the San Francisco Conservatory New Music Ensemble, Nicole Paiement, conductor
That Night When Joy Began (2006)
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Bass-Baritone and Chamber Orch. 6 min.
For David Murray and Carnegie Mellon Contemporary Ensemble, Walter Morales, Conductor
W. H. Auden (1907-73)
That night when joy began
Our narrowest veins to flush,
We waited for the flash
Of morning’s levelled gun.
But morning let us pass,
And day by day relief
Outgrows his nervous laugh,
Grown credulous of peace,
As mile by mile is seen
No trespasser’s reproach,
And love’s best glasses reach
No fields but are his own.
Shoreside Melody (2006)
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Orchestra 10 ½ min.
For Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic, Efrain Amaya, Conductor
2006 Harry G. Archer Prize in Undergraduate Orchestral Composition