Queen Bess

I just sent out the score and parts for Queen Bess, my third work for concert band, and will hopefully get some good feedback and recordings to share with you. I would like to thank the band directors who responded to my request for a reading through the Band Directors Group Composer Clinician Connection forum on Facebook. It is such a helpful online community and a great resource for all involved. 

 

Regarding the work itself, Queen Bess is a grade 4 march that honors the life of Elizabeth "Bessie" Coleman. The excerpt below is taken from the program notes. Elizabeth "Bessie" Coleman (1892-1926) is an aviation pioneer who overcame rampant sexism and racism to become the first African-American female pilot. She grew up in a poor family in rural Oklahoma and later moved to Chicago to work in a beauty salon. In the midst of World War I she began reading stories of pilots fighting in Europe, which inspired her to become an aviator. Due to Jim Crow laws and misogyny she was unable to enroll in any aviation school in the United States. Undeterred, she went to France to study and eventually obtained her pilot's license. She returned home and showcased her skills doing daredevil stunts. Her fame quickly grew and her adoring public gave her the nickname "Queen Bess." She used her celebrity status to further civil rights for African-Americans and women, often refusing to fly at segregated shows and refusing public appearances that denigrated her race or gender. Even after her untimely death at the age of 34, Elizabeth Coleman continues to inspire. 

Havana Video

So I was roaming around Youtube watching indoor drumline videos and noticed that Central High School's 2015 indoor drumline show was in my queue of related videos. I had the pleasure of working with Central's pit and also got to compose a piece for them callled Havana (it's the middle movement in the video). Hope you enjoy the performance.

Help support young percussionists!

I was appointed the Director of Percussion at Lafayette High School this year. I am very excited to be working with these hard working and talented students and have already started upgrading our percussion equipment. My teaching partner, Joe Schreimann, and I have a grant on DonorsChoose that will go towards purchasing a much needed inventory of mallets and a few cymbals. Please help support these kids by donating or by sharing the link to your social media pages.

If you donate be sure to use the code LIFTOFF so that your donation is matched by DonorsChoose.

New Video

Hey guys,

I just posted a video of Luna's Tea Party for Jazz Band to YouTube. It was premiered by the St. Joseph High School Jazz All-Stars at the 2017 Coleman Hawkins Jazz Festival on June 10, 2017. The group is under the keen direction of Chad Lippincott. Thank you guys for a wonderful performance!

Tales from Dimension X-New Commission

I have just received a commission to write a grade 1 work for concert band from Elizabeth Betts, who is the band director in the  North Harrison school district. My goal is to write a fun, challenging, and unique piece so I am drawing upon my love of sci-fi and writing a quasi-cinematic work that tells a story of a daring space explorer. It also introduces students to aleatoric elements and non-traditional chord sounds and melodies (lot of quartal/quintal based melodic ideas, chromatic mediant chords are also used to give it that spacey sound.)It will be a fun challenge for me to keep all of my ideas within the realm of possibility for second year players and I look forward to working with Elizabeth and her students in the future.