Fall 2017

Listed here is my portfolio for the Fall 2017 semester. The first piece, Antarctic Souvenir, will be the sole composition presented to the composition faculty for my December 18 jury meeting. The three other pieces were also composed this semester, but will not be submitted for my jury.

Antarctic Souvenir is a piece for piano and electronics and represents my first major attempt at combining electronics and an acoustic instrument. Because of the electronic component, the piece requires a cover page with some explanation which precedes the score.

The audio files can be heard here.

______________________________________

In some ways, my Three Pieces for Piano is a companion piece to Antarctic Souvenir because it is a work for solo piano that includes an electronic element. This work was my first attempt at composing using set theory.

  1. “Buffer” incorporates clips of boxing announcer Michael Buffer’s voice, including his famous catchphrase “Let’s get ready to rumble.”
  2. “Bummer” is a slow, sparse piece meant to eliminate any excitement generated by the first movement.
  3. “Buzzer” is a quick piece that utilizes audio of TV game show buzzers and bells.

Pine County was my compositional palette-cleanser after working on the complex pieces above. It is a piece for wind band, with orchestrations and textures based on my analysis of the Intermezzo from Vaughan-Williams’s English Folk Song Suite.

“Flat Satellite” is an instrumental piece for rock band that is composed of four distinct parts. It is inspired by multi-part prog rock pieces like Dopapod’s “FABA” and Phish’s “Harry Hood.” I think a skilled rock group could perform a stellar version of this, much better than the souped-up MIDI/lo-fi guitar version that I made.

______________________________________

I don’t know if it is of interest to the jury members, but my MUSIC 761 syllabus says that I was to attend 8 concerts/recitals throughout the semester, so here is the list of performances I’ve attended:

  1. Accordion Meets the French Horn – September 14, 2017: PSOA Recital Hall
  2. Wisconsin Lutheran College Band Fall Showcase Concert – October 6, 2017: Schwan Concert Hall
  3. Mike Gordon – October 8, 2017: Pabst Theater
  4. Sensoria Presents Ann Yi + Electronics – November 4, 2017: PSOA Recital Hall
  5. WELS Choral Festival Pops Concert – November 10, 2017: La Crosse Center
  6. WELS Choral Festival Sacred Concert – November 12, 2017: La Crosse Center
  7. Wisconsin Lutheran College Jazz Band Fall Concert – November 18, 2017: Warrior Underground
  8. Served Hot – November 30, 2017: PSOA Recital Hall
  9. Wisconsin Lutheran College Winter Band Concert – December 8, 2017: Schwan Concert Hall

______________________________________

If there are any broken links or other problems with this page, please let me know. My full portfolio (which admittedly hasn’t been updated in about a year) can be viewed here. Thank you.