Happy New Year! Since beginning my conducting career, composition took somewhat of a back seat. And now since working at the high school, I’ve been a little rejuvenated to work at it again.

It’s very difficult during the academic year to find time to write. During the day of course I’m working with the young musicians in class, weekends I’m busy with the youth orchestra, and on evenings it can be hard to find the energy to sit down and pick up the pen. There’s a whole mindset to get into and process to reteach my brain to have an effective composition session. Sometimes a good chunk of it is reminding myself where I left off and what sort of ideas I had when I last left the desk before I can even continue. It’s times like that where I really envy composers who have trained themselves to take larger chunks of time out of their day to dedicate to composition. If you’re out there, I admire you for your self-discipline in your craft and your schedule. It also sounds like crazy fun if you’ve got a routine going.

So a lot of my writing time takes place during summer. I have multiple days off to think about my ideas and let them simmer over a few days if needed. It always helps when my family and I do our summer travels; it serves as not only a physical break from our normal dwelling but a mental one as well. These past few summers I’ve worked on a few new pieces for school-level orchestras! The first one is called Gambit, and it was made for beginners in mind. The second is called Spring Returns, and I think this one would be suited for older students.

This year I’m going to start working towards getting my pieces published. I don’t know if either of the two I mentioned above would make the cut for a publishing company, but I do know it’s great practice.

So here we are! I’m looking forward to trying my hand again at it after a few years of conducting focus, not to mention making my Works page here on the site a little less sad. Cheers, and I’m excited to hear my music again!