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Composing
In my undergrad years at Virginia Commonwealth University, I studied composition with Dika Newlin, who had studied
with Arnold Schoenberg. She introduced me to a book she wrote entitled, Bruckner, Mahler, Schoenberg. Incidentally,
it was one of the first books on Anton Bruckner written in English. In order to introduce such a book, my teacher
had to mention that this was a succession; a passing down of musical values that started with Bach. My teacher believed
that she was part of that succession, and therefore, so was I. I have since heard of people trying to trace back their
"musical ancestry," mostly in an attempt to get noticed. But even after studying from another teacher since, the
styles of precisely Bruckner, Mahler, and Schoenberg are in my own music.
My music
The most impressive work of mine is Paradise: In a Dream, a setting of Christina Rossetti's poem of
that name for soprano, baritone, and full orchestra. With a running time of twenty minutes, it is the longest work
I have written without a break. The poem deals with a dream the author had of heaven, and I worked hard
to create the feeling of an ascent to a spiritual level and then back down to an earthly level.
Also among my significant works are two string quartets (each with three movements), a choral work based on Goethe's Song
of the Fates, a couple seven-minute works for chamber orchestra, and a few electroacoustic works.
Paradise: In a Dream
The Abstract
The poem set
Setting poems by Chrissy Greenslade
Shortly before a priest/friend, Father Charles Kelly past away last year, I promised that I would dedicate
a work in his memory. Only weeks before he died, he was deeply moved by my proposition. For months I looked for
that perfect poem. Then one day, while washing my hands, I saw it on a calendar hanging over our kitchen
sink. It was called "Common Senses" by Chrissy Greenslade and immediately I started composing. I completed
the work the next day, and searched on Google for the poet. After finding her number, I called Chrissy
in England, and over a bad phone line, I played what I had just written. I knew then that this was the
beginning of an artistic collaboration. On a trip to England, I visited her in Bournemouth, and was further
convinced that we had a close artistc connection. My father pointed out later that if it was not for
the premature death of Father Kelly, none of this would have happened.
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