The musical highlights of 2025
Among year-end traditions, reflecting gratefully on how you’ve been fortunate is one of the worthiest.
2025 has been one of the most rewarding musical years of my life, in large part due to the generosity and collaborations of this newsletter’s readership (thank you!). I can’t highlight every lovely or fortunate instance from the year, but here are a handful that keep me warm in the December chill and that I will remember when I look back on musical 2025.
May: Premiere of A Sunward Tilt
In May of this year, Fivemind Reeds gave the premiere of A Sunward Tilt, a piece for reed quintet completed the year before and written with them in mind.
The piece (and their performance) achieves everything I want my music to: a perfect balance between aesthetic accessibility and expressive depth; music that evokes and reinforces what is tender, noble, and good in each of us; music that ties us to nature, the ebbing and flowing of it, and our proper place here - in awe and working to make the world a bit better. The magical way Fivemind suddenly lets the last minute of music melt away after the final climax still steals my breath, surprising me in the best way possible. With this piece, it’s almost true that if I never wrote anything else or had anything performed again, I would be totally musically happy.
February and August: Premieres abroad!
My music went overseas for the first time this year, and in the case of both pieces, both performances were also world premieres.
Rhapsody for Double Reeds
To be fair, the year’s first premiere wasn’t technically abroad, taking place in Ponce, PR as a part of Puerto Rico Double Reed Day 2025. Dr. Javier Rodriguez, friend and University of Idaho Professor of Bassoon was looking for music for two oboes and three bassoons to perform together; I delivered with the Rhapsody for Double Reeds. Following a successful premiere, one of the ensemble performers asked for a new arrangement for three oboes and two English horns which premiered this summer at the Fresno Summer Orchestra Academy.
Suite from a Non-Existent Ballet
For the second premiere abroad, nonesuch.reedquintet gave the first performance of Suite from a Non-Existent Ballet in Tangerang, Indonesia as a part of their six-week tour of southeast Asia during which they would give three more performances of the Suite.
In the last year, nonesuch has made fantastic recordings of two of my pieces for reed quintet, including the Suite and my first reed quintet, After Hours. They’ve been wonderful champions of my music and an exceptional addition to Oregon’s chamber music scene.
September: Portland Saxophone Ensemble live on the radio!
In September, radio host Christa Wessel invited the Portland Saxophone Ensemble to perform live on Portland’s All Classical Radio.
In addition to performing the finale of Morning Comes Always for live and radio audiences, I got to speak about my composition, about the saxophone’s place in classical music, and about the founding and purpose of the Portland Saxophone Ensemble. It was a bucket list experience and a delight to share some classical saxophone with an audience most familiar with the saxophone’s substantial contributions to jazz and popular music.
Seeds for the future
Everything that bore fruit this year had been somehow in the works for at least a year. I recently read a biography of a well-known composer who had premieres and performances of work after work delayed months and years beyond when the original commitment was made. It was a humbling and helpful reminder of what even an eminent composer can and can’t control.
What I can control is sowing seeds for the future. Here’s what’s in motion for next year:
A scheduled premiere of a new piece for soprano saxophone and piano blossom behold bruise become given by Dr. Jessica Dodge-Overstreet at the North American Saxophone Alliance’s 2026 national conference. At the same event, Dr. Sean Fredenburg and the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga saxophone studio will also be giving a performance of my recently revised piece Romp.
A completed final draft of a major new work for saxophone quartet in search of a name and a premiere date in 2026.
A new Portland-based saxophone quartet (so new, we don’t even have a name yet…!), a vehicle for giving the saxophone a more established voice in Portland’s classical music scene.
A possible collaboration with Portland-based animated film director R.J. Sullivan of Catch and Hatch Studios on a score for his latest animated film!
There’s still time for you to get some seeds in the ground for the new year, so don’t let the late hour deter you from even a small action that can ripple out into the future. If you’re at a loss, consider supporting the ensembles, musicians, and promoters that have supported me this year: Fivemind Reeds, nonesuch.reedquintet, Solstice Reed Quintet, Portland Saxophone Ensemble, Aruna Quartet; the saxophone studios of UW-Stevens Point, UT-Chattanooga, University of Washington, and Montana State University; the double reed studios of University of Idaho; Dr. Jessica Dodge-Overstreet, Dr. Sean Fredenburg, Dr. Wonki Lee, Dr. Rong-Huey Liu, Dr. Javier Rodriguez, Dr. Erik Steighner; Chamber Music Northwest, All Classical Radio.
And if you’re interested, my door is always open to discussing new projects and collaborations. Drop me a line here and say hello - lets make some musical plans for 2026!