Spring 2026 – A crazy 4 months
Been a while since I’ve done one of these!
The last 4 months have been a whirlwind for me. Tons of traveling, concerts, and premieres. This spring semester might be one of my busiest I’ve ever had.
Quick plug: I’m now taking commissions for 2027 and beyond! Please feel free to reach out to me to discuss your project!
January
We attended MMEA 2026 where the Kickapoo High School Orchestra premiered “In The Wake Of Light”. This piece had been a last minute commission by them (September 2025 if I remember right) and I had to write it FAST so they could rehearse it. Due to the class scheduling they could only rehearse a handful of times together as a full orchestra. They were BRILLIANT and this premiere has ignited a new passion for me to write for the orchestral medium more.
Me and the director, Ms. Annie Honeycutt after the premiere.
Me and the director, Ms. Annie Honeycutt with the score
February
I once again returned to Peabody Conservatory. I’ve been so many times I feel like I need a punch card at this point. This was to attend the premiere of my work “Retrospectives: A Musical Saga” (uploading soon). This work was written in honor of Dr. Harlan Parker’s retirement after 35+ years at Peabody. As usual Harlan’s conducting students were top notch human beings. I can see why he chose to stay a bonus year in order to finish up their conducting degrees.
The performance itself had a bit of a false start (the laptop got disconnected from the audio interface) but once we got that ironed out, the audience got to enjoy the first minute of music all over again! I want to specifically call out Sarah Culp-Abrams for running the electronics and having to deal with the stress of that over a 15 minute work.
Harlan’s legacy is one of integrity and compassion. His impact on my career cannot be understated at all. He answered an email from a young composer a long time ago and took a chance with my music that helped lead me to things like my first CBDNA performance in 2022 and 3 total premieres with his groups. I’m forever grateful for everything he has done and his friendship, and I look forward to continuing to work with him in his retirement.
Myself and Dr. Harlan Parker
Harlan's conducting studio. All of them incredible humans.
I had just ran down a massive flight of stairs for this hug. Worth it.
I can't remember what Ashley was pointing out, but I remember it being funny.
Concert program.
The setup from the command center for this piece.
Culp-Abrams! She was running the electronic cues!
March
Honestly, this was the first month I didn’t have travel or rehearsals in a while, so I spent most of it writing music. I finished up my Krampus piece and started writing my Rave for symphonic band and electronics and just really kept my head down working on both projects.
April
Alabama All State
Arrianne and I traveled down to Mobile, AL for the 2026 Alabama All State Festival. This festival was special for a few reasons. First, it was the first time I’ve had a piece premiered by an all state group. Secondly, it was the premiere of a piece with a very special back story, “What Remains Is Love”. You can read about that backstory here.
The all state bands in Alabama are MASSIVE.150+ students in each and there are multiple middle school and high school and groups. For a group this size they sounded really balanced and rehearsed well. Watching Audrey rehearse was incredible. The musical nuances and expressiveness she was able to pull out of that group left me in tears and smiling the entire time. It was a master class. The students where all incredibly well behaved and I loved getting to talk with them all. Some of the stories they shared of loss had me in tears for them. But I also had so much joy knowing how well they are handling those tough situations. I have hope for this generation of students, they are going to do great things.
Myself and Mrs. Audrey Murphy
Audrey and David
Educating the youths.
Talking about my piece
Fun fact, the Lovell that was on Apollo 13 is the great uncle of Ryan Lovell, the consortium lead of Stalacpipes!
Rehearsal time!
Me and the legend himself, Danh Pham.
Rutgers
Rutgers holds a really special place in my heart. Dr. Julia Baumanis and Adam Klein have become like family to Arrianne and I over the last couple of years and they graciously hosted us during our stay. Their cats were suspicious of us at the start, but by the time we left, they learned to tolerate us. So I call that a win!
During this trip, I recorded my piece “Stalacpipes” with Julia’s ensemble. This piece has electronics in it and I made the decision to just record with a click going into Julia’s ear and then adding electronics in post. Turns out conducting a piece at 150 BPM for an hour and a half is a workout (sorry Julia!). The ensemble did great and I think we will get a great recording out of it so be on the lookout for that!
At the concert, Julia did her consortium premiere of “Stalacpipes” and honestly it was a damn near perfect performance. No performance is perfect but this one had everything fall into place perfectly. I want to thank Julia and Adam again for hosting Arrianne and I for this trip and being such big champions of music. It’s very rare to find people like them in this world. We’re even luckier we get to call them family now.
Lunch at Chef Tan's. Still full.
Titus and Peanut
The recording group! Just an incredible ensemble.
From the listening table
Recording session time!
Post concert hug goes hard
The sister I never knew I needed, Dr. Julia Baumanis.
Bellevue West
My Alma mater. I have not been at a concert here since 2022 when it was held in a gym. We were attending their consortium premiere of “Stalacpipes” and also checking out their brand new state of the art auditorium. The new venue was AWESOME. The acoustics are really good and the groups sounded terrific in the space (and on my piece).
Part of this visit was for me to scope out the auditorium’s acoustics and electronics capabilities. Bellevue West will be celebrating their 50th anniversary in the 2027-2028 school year (which also coincides with 20 years since I’ve graduated, I’m OLD). I’ve been commissioned by them to write a piece for band and choir as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations. So this trip was a great chance to check out the space, run into some old teachers of mine and have my entire family in attendance for this piece. Thank you again to Marques and Jason for the invite!
Conclusion
This was a whirlwind 4 months. I can easily say this was one of the busiest spring semesters I’ve ever had. But it was also one of the best. The support people have shown for my music has been humbling to say the least.
To everyone listed above, the people I forgot to mention, and all the people I’ve met along the way, I really want to say “thank you”. I’m humbled, honored, and thrilled that you all supported my music. In a time where school boards are shutting down concerts due to the nature of the music, we need more people like you to help keep the arts alive.
There’s a lot of lonely days and nights that go into composing this music. That’s the price I pay as a composer to create my art. But if that means I get to travel to these places, and meet so many amazing musicians, teachers, conductors, parents, and random supporters, then it’s worth it to me.
I’m now entering the dreaded “single wife season” as marching band design work begins for 2026. I’m debating growing a beard for this one. But Arrianne may have other things to say about that haha.