"“You compose because you want to somehow summarize in some permanent form your most basic feelings about being alive”....... Aaron Copland My earliest grade-school memory is sitting in the auditorium on a winter’s day, listening to our high school chorus sing holiday songs in harmony. My earliest memories of music in the home were Saturday afternoon Met broadcasts, my father playing opera arias on his harmonica, or the extended family of 40 singing Christmas carols after our seven fishes dinner. Lyricism inspired me and led me. Piano lessons, however, became the real ticket to my career, and music was my indisputable major when I entered college. Choral directing, composing, and teaching typically intersect in my professional life. My first choral pieces were written to answer a need or fill a gap in my school concert programming. After that, I have composed sacred anthems and seasonal selections for my church youth, children, or adult choirs for three decades. Generational singing has also been a focus of mine, and I delight in combining the varied timbres of young trebles with those of men and women. Words matter to me, so selecting timeless texts is important. I choose texts that seem to sing on their own, melody serving as my vehicle of expression, and am drawn to poetry that expresses transcendence, whether in nature or the supernatural. I also write my own texts and am an ASCAP member in composer and author categories. Recently, my choral ranges have stepped outside the boundaries of traditional registers, allowing for sonorities and timbres which better express my musical intention. Aside from teaching, choral directing, and singing in the alto section of some fine local choirs, I collaborate with choral groups to create new music. Commissions have included professional, school and church choirs of all levels. My area of expertise has been composing for young voices. However, my most recent awards have been for SATB works, a cappella and accompanied, by Vocalessence of Minneapolis and Amadeus C
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