I am a member of the Physics Department of San Jose State University, specializing in the physics of music.  I am active as a professional horn player.  I've published choral works with William Thorpe, Roger Dean, Santa Barbara, Hal Leonard, and Brichtmark; have been composer in residence of the Cantabile Children's chorus, the Peninsula Girls Chorus, Vivace Youth Chorus, and the San Francisco Choral Artists; have won over a dozen composition contests, including the Ithaca College Choral Composition Contest (twice); have completed over a dozen commissions. including three for the Peninsula Women's Chorus.  Here is a youtube video of the Peninsula Women's Chorus singing Let Evening Come, my setting of Jane Kenyon's great poem. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHiDUREyPo0.  And here is a video of the St. Louis Children's Chorus singing Roger Plays the Tuba at the ACDA convention in Los Angeles. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3j2D5EcxK8

     My most ambitious choral composition is Amherst Requiem, an hour-long work for solo soprano, chorus, children's chorus and orchestra.  Amherst Requiem combines nine poems of Emily Dickinson (sung by the soprano) with the Latin missa pro defunctis, sung by the choruses.  The premier was in November 2008, at Stanford University.  Another piece that has met with success recently: 4 e e cummings songs, premiered by the San Francisco Choral Artists this past March, has won two composition contests, placed second another, and has been featured at two New Music Festivals.  

     A recently completed piece is Come Christmas, a wreath of a dozen carols based on poems of Eleanor Farjeon.  It is for soprano, baritone, chorus, and orchestra. The premier performances were at Stanford University in November, 2011.  Another recent piece, The Shortest Day, won a seasonal song contest sponsored by the Amadeus Choir of Toronto.  They performed the premier in December, 2011.  This piece is a setting (SATB unaccompanied) of a solstice poem written for me by Susan Cooper.

    Some recently published pieces:

           Emily's Day for trebles (SA) and piano.  (Three poems of Emily Dickinson) - Hal Leonard.

           Kings Came Riding for mixed chorus and solo oboe.  (Charles Williams) - William Thorpe.

           The Brown Birds for mixed chorus unaccompanied. (Eleanor Farjeon) - William Thorpe.

           Joyful Noise for trebles (SA) and piano.  (Four insect poems of Paul Fleischman) - Brichtmark.

   Several pieces are in print with various publishers

          The Song of Mr Toad for trebles (SSA), baritone saxophone, and piano.  From The Wind in the Willows.  (Roger Dean)

          The Cat and the Moon for unaccompanied mixed chorus. (WB Yeats).  (NCCO Choral Series)

          There will come soft rains for unaccompanied mixed chorus. (Sara Teasdale) (Santa Barbara)

 

     The picture shows me playing a keyed bugle at one of my physics of music talks.