LIst of Works
Tenor Duo "On Stoicism" (15', 2024), three movements for two tenor saxophones. The score of this work can be found at tinyurl.com/grabillscores
Reed Quintet No. 1 “Heroes and Villains” (25’, 2022), is a satirical work written for the Civitasolis Quintet (clarinet, oboe, bass clarinet, saxophone, and bassoon). This work will be released as an album in 2025, thanks to grants from the Maryland State Arts Council and Bard Early College.
Reed Quintet No. 2 (35', 2023), also written for the Civitasolis Quintet, will be featured alongside Heroes and Villains in our upcoming 2025 album.
Sonata for Tenor Saxophone and Electronics (15', 2024). Part of the score can be found at: tinyurl.com/grabillscores
Union Dues, for wind ensemble (12’, 2021) utilizes forty instruments to convey the rage Americans workers have experienced throughout American history. This work has not yet been performed; a score and MIDI realization can be found at tinyurl.com/grabillscores.
Psalm 23 and Matthew 5:38 (each 4’, 2022) are movements of a growing choral cycle set in the Pennsylvania Dutch language. The music takes influence both from New England shape note singing and German folk music. One of the vespers was premiered in Minnesota at the Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers Conference in June 2023.
Hide and Seek (8’, 2021), for alto saxophone and fixed media, commissioned by Paula Van Goes. It’s full of energy, with a glitzy tape track influenced by pop music.
Flowers of Ressurection (5', 2021) for flute, cello, piano, and violin, is a haunting work written for Music&Friends.
Mountain Piques, for flute, cello, guitar, and electronics (25’, 2018), was written for and performed by the Baltimore-based Pique Collective, and included choreographed visuals by the Black Cherry Puppet Theatre.
A political song cycle, Teacher Tales (15’, 2019) recounts my experiences as a math teacher and the inequality of education in America.
Mother Earth (8’, 2019) for bassoon and live electronics, was commissioned by Lynn Hileman. It was premiered at the National Music Festival in Chestertown, MD.
Lake Pontchartrain, for string sextet (9’, 2017), features expansive chords that weave between dissonance and consonance. This calm, romantic piece also brings out the sounds of the Louisiana bayou.
More Works
Oboe Trio No. 1 (9’, 2022) is a three movement piece influenced by cowboy songs and ballads from the 19th century. This piece is unperformed; please contact me for a score.
Birds of Lethe (6’, 2022), for alto saxophone and fixed media, commissioned by Paula Van Goes, and performed in early 2023. It features the sounds of masked lapwings and water.
Grief Never Leaves, a song cycle for soprano, oboe, and piano (9’, 2020) explores the devastating power of grief.
Enkidu, for baritone saxophone and live electronics (17’, 2018) was commissioned by Tae Ho Hwang. The work is inspired by the Epic of Gilgamesh. The piece begins a cappella and progressively incorporates more and more electronics. It was premiered at the Electroacoustic Barndance in Jacksonville, FL in 2018.
Escape, for bassoon quartet (7’, 2016) won the Dark in the Song Prize and was premiered by Dark in the Song, one of the world’s premiere bassoon quartets. It has so far been performed in New York, Maryland, Tennessee, and Spain.
Pluto, for clarinet and live electronics (35’, 2015), whose final movement Gravity won 3rd place in the Peabody Prix d’Eté. Inspired by the (then recent) photos of Pluto, this ethereal, five minute work displays the full potential of what a single clarinet can do with electronic processing. It features looping, granulation, delay, pitch shift, and virtuosic clarinet writing.
Responses, for clarinet sextet (3’, 2014) is a peaceful, algorithmically composed work. In this piece, I applied composition techniques I used in previous fixed media projects to the live acoustic medium.
Sapa (9’, 2011) was a collaboration with dancer and choreographer Danielle Greene Madrid. It is for fixed media, and features processed sounds of the piano, guitar, birds, and lawn equipment. Later, Vin Grabill used the music to create a video piece, After the Storms.
Pranayama (20’, 2010) for fixed media and video, was created using over one hundred samples audio samples of piano strings and harmonics. It also incorporates singing. An abstract, colorful video by Vin Grabill accompanies the piece.
Nantucket and Young Sycamore (5’, 2009) were composed for the Washington Men’s Camerata. Nantucket was performed at the Kennedy Center. Both texts are by William Carlos Williams.
The three movement Un Jardin, (15’, 2009) was written with similar techniques to Pranayama. This work was also a collaboration with Vin Grabill.
Kings Highway / Stillwell Avenue (8’, 2007) for solo piano is a personal work about catharsis after trauma. It explores gestures that imitate the sounds of New York City.
