ABOUT THE COMPOSITIONS
This collection of works represents a return to orchestral composition for me after a hiatus of almost 20 years. I recently completed my 25th year of public school teaching and I am hoping to make a transition to full-time composing and conducting. With that aim, I have spent each of the last four summer writing music for my friends and colleagues to share with their orchestras. It has been a very fulfilling experience for me and I'm proud to share my work with you!
ABOUT THE RECORDINGS
It was important to me to make a recording with the people for whom this music was written. On October 26, 2014, I gathered together a small orchestra of local public school and private lesson teachers along with students in grades 7-12 at Franklin & Marshall College to record 14 of the pieces I composed during my stay in France. The following year, I did the same thing after returning from Vienna. Each time, we had four hours and the recordings are not perfect. There are wrong notes. There are occasional tempo problems. There are intonation issues. But I think we were successful in showing the performance potential of these varied works and we all had a blast playing them. I hope you will find the recordings to be reflective of the enthusiasm my friends and I share for this music.
ABOUT THE CHARTS
I want to make this as easy for you as possible while keeping my production costs low. Therefore, when you purchase a piece of music from me, it will be sent via email as a PDF file and you can print as many copies as you need for your orchestra. That way, if you have an unusually high number of cellos this year, you don't have to worry about copyright compliance or purchasing a second copy of the chart—just print more! All I ask is that you limit your printing and distribution to your school. If the piece is being played by a large festival orchestra involving multiple schools or school districts, for example, please purchase a "festival surcharge" to cover groups of more than 80 players.
I work really hard on making charts that are aesthetically pleasing to read, allow for proper page turning and are functionally accurate. The typesetting is done by me and I am usually the only editor. Occasionally, there may be a mistake and I welcome your feedback! I encourage you to download this sample score and part so you have an idea of the quality you can expect from my work.
ORDERING INFORMATION
This website is set up to take orders by credit card or PayPal but I am also happy to accept school purchase orders. Please mail them to me at Opus Now! Publications, 1389 Old Line Road, Manheim, PA 17545. You can also scan and email them to me at opusnowpublications@gmail.com.