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Saxophone
Sonata for Tenor Saxophone and Electronics
tenor saxophone and fixed media • 17' •. 2024
A three movement sonata featuring a macabre satire, an Italian waltz, and a pensive, meditative finale.
Tenor Duo
two tenor saxophones • 15' • 2024
The duo comprises three movements, beginning with a stoic, slow-burning dirge, followed by a wistful scherzo, before returning to stoicism in the finale.
alto saxophone and fixed media • 8’ • 2021
Commissioned by Paula Van Goes, Hide and Seek is full of energy, with a glitzy tape track influenced by pop music.
Birds of Lethe
alto saxophone and fixed media • 6’ • 2022
Commissioned by Paula Van Goes, this intense, cathartic work features the sounds of masked lapwings, water, and a thundering piano.
baritone saxophone and live electronics • 17' • 2018
A dramatic setting of the Epic of Gilgamesh in which a solitary baritone saxophone gradually becomes engulfed by live electronic processing. Commissioned by Tae Ho Hwang and performed at the Electroacoustic Barndance in 2018.
Other Solo Works
Mother Earth
bassoon and live electronics • 8’ • 2019
Commissioned by Lynn Hileman and premiered at the National Music Festival in Chestertown, MD, it utilizes looping to create both a contrapuntal three voice round and a grassy, sunny ambience.
clarinet and live electronics • 9' • 2016
Inspired by the Faulkner novel, this piece has been performed by multiple clarinetists at SEAMUS, SPLICE, and inner sOUndscapes.
clarinet and live electronics • 2015 • 35’
Its 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.
Kings Highway / Stillwell Avenue
piano • 2007 • 8’
Kings Highway / Stillwell Avenue is a work about personal trauma. It explores gestures that imitate the sounds of New York City. Vin Grabill later made it into a film which was featured at Artisphere in 2010.
Chamber Music
reed quintet • 2022 • 25’
A satirical five-movement composition written for the Civitasolis Quintet (B-flat and E-flat clarinet, oboe / English horn, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, and bassoon). The piece moves through absurdity, dark comedy, sarcasm, and aggression before arriving at an inevitable tragic conclusion.
reed quintet • 2023 • 35’
Travilah was written for the Civitasolis Quintet, and is featured alongside Heroes and Villains in Grabill's debut album, thanks to grants from the Maryland State Arts Council and Bard Early College. In contrast to the satire and aggression of Heroes and Villains, Travilah embraces sincere pastoral beauty and heartfelt melancholy. Travilah has the same instrumentation as Heroes and Villains, but without the alto saxophone doubles on tenor.
flute, cello, guitar, and electronics • 2018 • 25’
Written for the Baltimore-based Pique Collective, its performance included choreographed visuals by the Black Cherry Puppet Theatre. Inspired by "Ode to a Nightingale" by Keats, the work draws inspiration from festive, bucolic scenes, with an electronic backdrop bringing out melancholy forest ambience.
string sextet • 2017 • 9'
A warm, expansive string sextet where luminous lyricism gradually gives way to longing and unease. This work's intimate story contrasts the vastness of Lake Pontchartrain with the close nature sounds of the bayou.
bassoon quartet • 2016 • 7'
Winner the Dark in the Song Prize, it was premiered by Dark in the Song, it has so far been performed in New York, Maryland, Tennessee, and Spain. A slow, bleak work, it features terrorizing contrabasson writing and a pining middle section.
flute, cello, piano, and violin • 2021 • 5'
This haunting work is inspired by April and its wet, dismal weather giving way to the blooming of flowers. Written for the Music&Friends collective.
Sonata for Flute and Percussion
flute, percussion, and fixed media • 2021 • 10'
This two movement work (titled "Melting Icicles" and "Meet Me Beneath the Willow Tree" contrasts the loneliness of city life with the overwhelming transcendence of the country. Its first movement features a drum set.
Oboe Trio No. 1
two oboes and English horn • 2022 • 9’
This three-movement piece take influence from cowboy songs and ballads from the 19th century.
clarinet sextet • 2014 • 3'
A peaceful, algorithmically composed work in which six parts blend into a single sound with niente attacks. The instrumentation features four B-flat clarinets, a bass clarinet, and a contrabass clarinet.
Orchestra and Large Ensemble
Iwwerrescht
orchestra • 24' • 2026
Iwwerrescht explores the tension between tradition and modernity in Pennsylvania Dutch country. Folk-inspired melodies and pastoral textures gradually give way to darker, more turbulent orchestral forces. This work was commissioned by the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra and is expected to premiere on March 7, 2027.
Union Dues
wind ensemble • 12' • 2021
Inspired by the Haymarket Riot of 1886, Union Dues uses a forty-piece wind ensemble to channel the anger and violence surrounding American labor history.
Voice and Vocal Ensemble
Psalm 23 and Matthew 5:38
mixed chorus • each 4’ • 2022
These two motets 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.
soprano and piano • 15’ • 2019
This cycle features four songs recounting my experiences as a math teacher and the inequality of education in America. "A Delicate Dance" was hailed a "mini-masterpiece" by Bill Vollinger. "The Food Chain" was runner up for the Arcady Music Composition in 2019.
soprano, oboe, and piano • 9’ • 2020
Three songs exploring the devastating power of grief.
Nantucket and Young Sycamore
men's chorus • 5’ and 4' • 2009
Composed for the Washington Men’s Camerata. The lush, neoromantic Nantucket was performed at the Kennedy Center. Young Sycamore features humorous text painting. Both texts are by William Carlos Williams.
Multimedia
fixed media and video • 9' • 2011
This piece features sounds of suburbia, including birds, wind chimes, and HVAC hums. My father, Vin Grabill, created a film after the music later.
fixed media and video • 24’ • 2010
Pranayama was created using over one hundred audio samples of piano strings and harmonics. It also incorporates singing. An abstract, colorful video by Vin Grabill accompanies the piece. It was featured at the ICMC in Huddersfield in 2011.
fixed media and video • 15’ • 2009
Written with similar techniques to Pranayama, this work was also a collaboration with Vin Grabill. It was inspired by unrequited longing, and watching cirrus clouds over the Blue Ridge Mountains on my early drives to my then middle school teaching stint.