Well, it’s still January, close enough to the beginning of the year, right?

Since completing my doctorate in the spring of 2020, I’ve found myself drifting away from composing and arranging, which is definitely a bit unfortunate. Except for a string quartet I finished a while back and a few small scraps of ideas, I haven’t written much of anything recently. To be fair, a pandemic, new job, and interstate move (following by purchasing a house for the first time) does take up a lot of time and energy. However, that’s certainly not to say that music has been gone from my life. While working from home, I’ve had some great opportunities to explore different genres of music during my work day; lately, I’ve been enjoying a lot of video game soundtracks, darkwave, and 80s synth-pop. I’ll still throw in some “classical” music for good measure too!

Since moving back to the DC metro area from upstate New York, I’ve also been thrilled to be back playing the clarinet with the Washington Metropolitan Gamer Symphony Orchestra. On top of getting to experience a terrific concert season last month, I’m also excited to be taking on the administrative role of Repertoire Editor with the organization. Between this new position and getting the wheels turning on some prospective arrangements I’d like to finish, maybe this year I’ll finally rediscover the joy of composing – that thing I spent 7+ years studying!

‘Cause I have!

I haven’t been working as much on composing lately, as things have been a bit hectic and I will be starting a new job in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully once I get onto my new schedule I will be able to make more time for writing music! In the meantime, I have posted a realization of a piece I wrote for viola and piano last year entitled “Quinta Essentia.” It’s up under the Playlists section of this site if you want to give a listen.

Well, here we are in September… somehow… it’s been fairly quiet on the music front lately. I’ve been spending some time with REAPER and my songwriting and keyboard skills. The latter could use some more attention… I’ve been talking with a saxophonist friend of mine recently about playing a sadly neglected quartet I wrote a few years ago, so I’m looking forward to hopefully hearing some new life blown into that older piece!

Other than that, I’ve been doing more listening than writing or playing the last few weeks, although I have been reconnecting with the Washington Metropolitan Gamer Symphony Orchestra and will be playing with them virtually this season! While that’s heating up, check out their Youtube channel which features some really outstanding recent virtual chamber recordings. I hope the beginning of fall is finding you all well!