Duration: 5’00”

Commissioner: Elizabeth Robinson (Website | YouTube | Aviary)

Commissioned as part of the Project 12 series by flutist Elizabeth Robinson, this expressive work for solo flute captures both the grace and not-so-graceful charm of the adorable Rockhopper penguin. Footstomps, playful trills, percussive articulations, a dynamic array of tone colors, and flutter tongue gestures are carefully balanced with song-like melodies—showcasing the incredible versatility and sensitivity of any advanced flute player.

Pricing

Digital: $15

Duration: 2’30”

Commissioner: Lisa Graham (Website)

This playful work uses simple elements to create rich and exciting textures. Building off of the opening rhythm, the texture is filled out exponentially before speeding into a singing section that leaps and bounds around the flute. Grace note figurations and careful use of flutter-tongue create a thick and contrapuntal texture, expanding this solo instrument into it’s own melody and accompaniment. All of these elements combine in the final section of the piece to leap, zip, and dance throughout the range of the flute—creating a whimsical, light, and thrilling experience for both listener and performer.

Pricing

Digital: $0!

All works in the Commissions from Quarantine series are available for free.

Duration: 3’30”

Commissioner: Alice Jones (Website | YouTube)

Commissioned for students by flutist and composer Alice Jones, Change of Color uses the ROYGBV spectrum to explore a wide variety of textures. Red explores short upward runs and grace note pulsations. Orange creeps downward using a series of wide vibrato sustains and trills. Yellow brings grace notes back in a melodic context, leaping upwards, incorporating vocalizations, and short, expressive pitch bends. Green uses a lilting melody, grace notes pulses, and footstomps. Blue sees the return of wide vibrato and pitch bends, now in a more expressive and melancholy mood. The final section, Purple, descends dramatically downward—ending in a quiet, cathartic final grace note pulse.

Pricing

Digital: $0!

All works in the Commissions from Quarantine series are available for free.

Duration: 5’45”

Commissioner: Daniel Gallagher

Commissioned by and dedicated to Daniel Gallagher, Silver and Brown is small chamber work for solo flute with string quartet accompaniment. The highly lyrical, often melancholic, flute writing soars brilliantly above swelling, pulsing, buzzing, and burbling string textures. This gap between the strings and flute ebbs and flows throughout the work, resulting in an ever-evolving, expressive, and highly dramatic work.

Pricing

Digital: $25

PDF includes a full score, solo flute part, and string parts with an ossia flute line

This work is in 12 movements:

1. Introduction (0’10”)
2. Chapter One: My Father Meets The Cat (1’30”)
3. Chapter Two, Part One: My Father Wanted to Fly (3’30”)
4. Chapter Two, Part Two: My Father Runs Away (1’30”)
5. Chapter Three: My Father Finds the Island (2’15”)
6. Chapter Four: My Father Finds the River (1’30”)
7. Chapter Five: My Father Finds Some Tigers (2’00”)
8. Chapter Six: My Father Meets a Rhinoceros (3’15”)
9. Chapter Seven: My Father Meets a Lion (3’30”)
10. Chapter Eight: My Father Meets a Gorilla (2’30”)
11. Chapter Nine: My Father Makes a Bridge (3’30”)
12. Chapter Ten: My Father Finds the Dragon (3’30”)

Duration: 20’00” (creature feature) | 25’00” (instrumental) | 30’00” (complete)

Commissioner: tuo duo - Emlyn Johnson, Daniel Ketter (Website)

My Father's Dragon is a tone poem of the children's story of the same name by Ruth Stiles Gannett; the story is about a young boy, Elmer Elevator, who runs away to Wild Island to rescue a baby Dragon. The work follows Elmer through each segment of his adventure—from his fateful meeting with an old alley cat, to the shores of Tangerina, deep in the jungles of Wild Island, and in the face of every danger he comes across on his way to the dragon. Lyrical, whimsical, quirky, and dynamic, My Father's Dragon is sure to provide a unique and fun challenge to any duo—and an unforgettable experience for listeners of all ages.

About the versions:

This work is designed to be as modular as possible, with versions with and without narration, as well as the option to perform only only the second half the work (“creature feature option,” for a total of 15’00”). You can read more about the different versions below.

“Complete with narration” is a full score that includes the narration embedded into the score, and should be performed with a third person reading the text over the music. This version can be done in its entirety (about 30’00”), or with the option of starting halfway through for those wanting to focus solely on the animal movements (“creature feature” version, movements 7-12, 15’00”). This version is best for those who wish to perform the work with guest narrators. Those who wish to perform without narration may prefer one of the other options if the text proves distracting in the score.

“Narration between movements” is meant for duos who wish to include narration without a third person performing—the narration happening prior to each movement with a single instrument playing a vamp under the narration. After the reading is finished, the music can seamlessly continue from the vamp into the movement proper. Please note: While this makes the movements shorter (not having to vamp under a narrator), it can still result in a longer run time depending on the pace of whoever is reading. Due to the formatting, this version also includes the flexibility to play each movement without narration, and may be best for groups who wish to have the ability to do either option and without relying on a third person.

“Instrumental only” is best for groups that do NOT plan to incorporate the text at all, as it only includes the musical material. This is also the shortest version, usually taking about 23’00”-25’00” depending on tempos and durations between movements.

Pricing

Complete with narration

Full score, digital: $70

Per movement, digital: $15

Narration between movements

Full score, digital: $65

Per movement, digital: $12

Instrumental only

Full score, digital: $55

Per movement, digital: $10

This work is in three movements:

1. Fat-Ass Robin (3’00”)
2. Lazy-Ass Pterodactyl (4’00”)
3. Big-Ass Moth! (3’30”)

Duration: 10’30”

Commissioner: Robin Meiksins (Website | YouTube)

Suite-Ass Cycle was commissioned by flautist Robin Meiksins as additional movements to Big-Ass Moth! (originally a stand-alone work). This final movement was inspired by a dramatic meeting with a very large moth (later identified as a Luna Moth), who was just as upset as I was that we ended up in the shower together late one evening in Brevard, North Carolina. Big-Ass Moth seeks to capture not only the movements and frantic buzzing of the startled creature, but my subsequent reaction as well—hence the screams and footstomps! While the suite is ultimately rather theatrical and silly (dipping into cartoonish at times!) it is filled with advanced extended techniques, intricate dialogue between parts, and sudden shifts in character - making this a challenging showcase work for any duo.

Pricing

Full score, digital: $35

Per movement, digital: $15

PDF includes a full performance score (transposed). Each movement is intended to spread across two music stands.

*Programmers who wish to avoid curse words in their printed programs may use acronyms instead:

SAC…………Kimberly Osberg
FAR | LAP | BAM

This work has yet to be premiered—a MIDI file is available above

This work is in three movements:

1. Headlights Wreathed in Fog (3’45”)
2. Fireflies Among the Trees (4’00”)
3. Cinders in the Air (4’30”)

Duration: 12’15”

Commissioner: Michelle Lundy, Beau Soir Ensemble (Website)

Commissioned by Michelle Lundy (harpist), Night Lights is inspired by different sources of light at night. The first movement features a gentle and mysterious ostinato in the harp, the viola and flute trading moments to soar above, as well as playful wrap between the melody and accompaniment. In the second movement, woody effects and buzzing punctuations pulse in the background as bright accents peak out from the texture before giving way to sparkling and lush outbursts of lyricism. The dancelike third movement lilts and breezes as each instrument takes it’s turn with the unfurling melody and pulsing accompaniment. The infectious joy of the final movement builds to a triumphant finale, making this an excellent closing work for any trio.

Pricing**

Full score, digital: $35

Per movement, digital: $15

PDF includes a full score, as well as solo parts for the flute, viola, and harp formatted for page turns.

**pre-order now available, delivery August 2024

Fourth movement from Fowl Play. Check out the whole piece - and album! - on the following platforms:
Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube

This work is in four movements:

1. Discopeckque (3’00”)
2. Chasing Tail (3’00”)
3. Featherbrained (2’30”)
4. Cock Flight (2’30”)

Duration: 5’30”

While I was getting coffee one summer, I saw some local kids throwing various discs, boomerangs, and other flight toys around a field. At one point, a cheap boomerang they had been playing around with snapped off at one end; the kids started flicking it around, trying to get it to return to them with varying degrees of failure. I started thinking about how to depict this struggle musically, and the result was this work. A large variety of textures flit and scurry as the main idea struggles to return, resulting in rhythmic-but-fragmented interruptions, lyrical-but-melancholic melodies, and a final outburst that leaves the listener with only cinders.

Pricing

Digital: $25

PDF includes a full score (transposing and/or in C) and individual parts for each player formatted for page turns.

Duration: 6’00”

Commissioner: Shelley Martinson, Southwestern Oklahoma State University flute studio

Instrumentation: 3 C flute parts, 1 alto flute part, 1 bass flute part + optional contrabass flute part

Commissioned by the Southwestern Oklahoma State University flute studio, Running in the Eye attempts to capture both the awe-inspiring power and stunning mobility of twisters. Using a combination of simple, aleatoric textures and lush, lyrical melodies, this work gives each instrument a moment at the foreground and displays the expressive capacity of even the lowest-sounding members of the flute family—making this a great showcase piece for both performer and listener!

Pricing**

Digital: $30

PDF includes a full score (transposing and/or in C) and individual parts for each player formatted for page turns.

**pre-order now available, delivery August 2024

This work is in three movements:

1. Cosmic Nursery (2’00”)
Piccolo and C flutes only (+ optional harp)

2. Dwarves and Giants (3’45”)
All voices, includes solo moments

3. Adding to the Dark (4’00”)
All voices, includes solo moments

Duration: 10’00”

Commissioner: Natasha Loomis, New Jersey Youth Symphony Flute Ensembles

Instrumentation*: Piccolo, 3 C flute parts, alto flute, bass flute + optional parts for contrabass flute and optional harp

*Due to solos throughout, for movements 2 and 3 it is recommended you have a minimum of 3 players per part for the C flutes and 2 for piccolo and alto flute.

Night Shifts was commissioned by Natasha Loomis for the New Jersey Youth Symphony combined Flute Ensembles in the spring of 2024. The work, inspired by their program surrounding stars and space, depicts the life cycle of stars in three movements.

In Cosmic Nursery, the upper flutes and piccolo feature as baby stars toddle, fall, bounce, and chirp. This upper voice movement is great for smaller flute choirs, or even a quartet.

In Dwarves and Giants, the full ensemble splits into different themes and motives, shooting off in all directions and providing ample opportunity for each member of the flute family to shine. The piece bursts and fragments into an explosive finish before stripping away in a final coda that leads into the final movement.

Finishing with Adding to the Dark, the listener witnesses the gradual fading of stars into the night—leaving space for the next generation of stars to shine.

Note: The work was written to accommodate multiple experience levels, and includes alternate versions of difficult passages throughout. If you require further simplification, please contact me directly.

Pricing**

Full Score: $40

Per movement: $15

PDF includes a full score (transposing and/or in C) and individual parts for each player formatted for page turns.