Spirit of the Wind developed out of my interpretation of the wind, and how it interacts with the natural world. The wind has numerous characteristics; the wind can be a calm, summer breeze. The wind can be an ice, cold, jet stream. The wind can be a sweat, soft, gust of warm spring air. In this orchestral piece, my goal was to explore these numerous characteristics and develop those ideas into a musical depiction. The opening A section depicts the calm, and softer side of the Wind. Listen for the breath of the wind, as it blows through the trees as the branches click together. Soon the sweat gust of spring air enters and shifts the color of the ensemble and introduces a new thematic section. Next, the contrasting B section depicts the darker side of the Spirit of the Wind. Known for its power and destruction, the Spirit of the Wind, can wreak havoc on the world in forms of tornados, hurricanes, monsoons, dust storms and more before returning to the opening main A theme.

written forThe Vermillion Duet, Bridge over the Mississippi is my musical expression of the beauty and power that resides within the Horace Wilkinson Bridge. Positioned at the onset of the Baton Rouge city, this bridge has become a beacon landmark for Louisiana residents and visitors alike. Of the large truss bridges over the lower Mississippi, the Interstate Highway I-10 Horace Wilkinson Bridge is the biggest. It rises 175 feet above the water, making it the highest of any Mississippi River bridge. Musically, I focused on the intricate geometrical shapes that appear from the woven metal. The Wilkinson Bridge is 14,150 feet long overall, which is more than 2-1/2 miles and the traffic deck carries six lanes of freeway traffic, seeing an average of 90,000 vehicles per day. Along within beauty of the structure, there is power the bridge holds. The bridge was officially named by the Louisiana state legislature in Act 206 in 1968. The act states, “These gentlemen served diligently, contributing greatly to the betterment of the state” when speaking of the three generations of Wilkinson’s who served a total of 54 years in that body. Listen for the busy traffic that traverses the bridge in against the smooth rippling currents of the Mississippi river below.

I am excited to announce the second of two world premieres this week that were made possible by The Collaborative Piano Institute and the Four Corners Ensemble who were in residence at this summer program at the LSU school of music. The Collaborative Piano Institute is a unique summer program created by collaborative pianist to cultivate an intensive experience.

“Between the Dimensions” was written for the Four Corners Chamber Ensemble. This three-movement piece for small chamber ensemble explores the scientific world of physics. When someone mentions "different dimensions," we tend to think of things like parallel universes – alternate realities that exist parallel to our own, However, the reality of dimensions are they play a role in the ordering of our Universe. Dimensions are the different facets of what we perceive to be reality.

This duet is a musical depiction of water. Water has numerous characteristics which I explore throughout this piece. Think of all the places water can be found. The flowing water of a river is continuous, The rushing water of river rapids, The Tranquil water of a pond, The Shimmering ripples of water on a Lake. I have chosen each of these images of water to help covey the transformations water can achieve. I have chosen to write this using the Flute and Clarinet is hopes to show the versatility and musical expressiveness of these two instruments. Like water the Flute and Clarinet can take on many characteristics which evolve their tone color, ranges and agility. Throughout this duet I explore many combinations of orchestration between the two instruments the goal for the performers is to express the music with a sense of eb and flow, a push and pull. Adding in extra rubato into the cadence points is highly encouraged. The tempo markings are not strict, however guidelines to keep the relationships of the different musical segments intact. There are moments when the Flute and clarinet are in contrast and other moments when they need to blend their sounds to fool the audience. © 2021

This song cycle is a collection of songs developed out of a story my grandmother told me one Sunday afternoon. She explained she was digging through some old things and found an English assignment my mom created while she was in high school. She was assigned to pick a theme and find poems that fit that theme. On top of finding poems, she needed to also write her own poems using the theme she had pick to include in the collection. Out of this collection I chose six poems to set, five by a number of different poets and one that my mom wrote. Her theme for this project was on the topic of Dreams, which is why my tittle of this cycle is Dream Cycle. As a collection, I envision, these songs depicting different dreams a protagonist is having during an evening. The use of both Soprano and Baritone is to convey an internal dialogue within the protagonist that occurs between the different movements, culminating in movement six. Movement 1 is depicting the pleases our protagonist is travelling while dreaming. Movement 2 is depicting the protagonist watching someone sleeping next to them, the protagonist is letting them know they will protect them. Movement 3 is depicting our protagonist dreaming about a broken heat, remembering losing someone they loved. Movement 4 is depicting our protagonist dreaming about a battle which they hope was a dream. Movement 5 is depicting our protagonist reflecting on their life and proclaiming their goals for the future. Movement 6 is depicting our protagonist dreaming about manifesting those ideas and goals into their life.

 Impressions of the crescent city is a musical journey through the heart of the French Quarter in New Orleans Louisiana. Often called the Crown Jewel of New Orleans, the French Quarter is one of New Orleans most historic neighborhoods. The focal point of the French Quarter is the Famous Jackson Square. My favorite part of visiting Jackson Square is to grab coffee and beignets from Café du Monde and enjoying breakfast while people watching in the Square. This six movement Duet allows the Tubist and the percussionist to explore six spotlight locations within the Square. The music within these movements expands on the sounds of Traditional Louisiana melodies and musical styles.

Welcome to Jackson Square

Battle of New Orleans 1815

Cathédrale Saint-Louis

The Magician

Café du monde

Mississippi River Boat

LSU Composition Studio and Lynne Knight a former fellow in poetry at Syracuse University, known for her cross-discipline collaboration and a robust teaching career, fostered a unique opportunity. We participated in a special collaboration with LSU composers and performers to create a highly unique recital premiering new original pieces inspired by Knights poems. Here is My new piece “when voices spoke like rushing waters” preformed by Sarah Rees soprano and Adriana Biaggi on piano. Together they performed the premiere of my first solo vocal piece. #composition #gradschoollife #phdincomposition #newmusic #collaborations #poetryismusic #vocalmusic