I’ve begun composing my new concert work, IN THE BLOOD, for the 30th NOW Music Festival at Capital University.

I spent a week thinking about my early influences and listening to a tremendous amount of music.   After considering it, I’ve decided to write for an ensemble comprised of 10 strings (3 first violins, 2 second violins, 2 violas, 2 celli, 1 bass), 8 woodwinds (2 flutes, 2 clarinets, 2 oboes, 2 bass clarinets or bassoons), and a percussion group comprised of Piano, Vibraphone, 2 Marimbas, Celesta, Bass Drum, and a Jazz Drumset.

I’m going to write a piece that focuses on phase shift, but also attempts to incorporate my take on modern jazz harmony.  I envision this as an opening work within the context of a greater series, which will eventually feature this concept along with jazz improvisation.  This is something I haven’t heard done before, and it’s been sitting in my head for years begging to come out.

Initial sketches are underway and I’ll be moving the entire project into the digital realm soon.  i like to compose a fair amount of music on paper, and work out themes, harmonic ideas there before moving to my sequencer, which offers me the ability to reimagine with different instruments, play with things quickly.

I got to thinking about Capital University’s Lutheran roots, as well as my own religious travels over the decades from Catholicism through Judaism and back.  Still working out the context, but something feels right about IN THE BLOOD as a starting point for the project.