A three movement work based on the anticipation of the coming of Christ at Christmas. 

I. An arrangement of "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" for SATB chorus, organ and brass.

II. Combines Sara Teasdale's poem "Night in Arizona" with the hymn "Now the Heavens Start to Whisper." For SATB, strings, piano and woodwinds.

III. An original setting of the Latin text "Christe, lux mundi" combined with the American hymn "Jesus, the Light of the World." For SATB, organ, chamber orchestra (all instruments from movements I and II) and percussion.

Available at MusicSpoke.com.

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A celebration of community, "I Will Rise" was written for a 2015  mass concert at Grand Rapids' Van Andel Arena called "LiveArts." The concert brought together the Grand Rapids Symphony and Chorus, the Grand Rapids Youth Chorus, the Grand Rapids Youth Symphony, the Opera Grand Rapids Chorus, the Grand Rapids Ballet, and 800 local 4th and 5th graders. The text, by Nancy Patterson, celebrates what collaborative music does for all of us when we come together. The piece weaves together two soloists, two choruses, an orchestra, and a West African drumming ensemble into an 11 minute community extravanganza. Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" even makes an appearance.

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Ma’oz tsur was written for my friend Bob Bernhardt, Principal Pops conductor of the Grand Rapids Symphony. It is a Jewish liturgical poem or piyyut. It is sung on Hanukkah, after the lighting of the festival lights. It retells Jewish history in poetic form and celebrates deliverance from enemies.

Not long after I started writing, the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania occurred. The project then took on a new meaning for me, as anti-Semitism (which has been rearing its ugly head more brazenly in recent times) broke in on a peaceful gathering of worshippers in the form of a man wielding a gun.

This arrangement is dedicated to the 11 victims of that shooting:

Joyce Fienberg, 75 Richard Gottfried, 65 Rose Mallinger, 97 Jerry Rabinowitz, 66 Cecil Rosenthal, 59 David Rosenthal, 54 Bernice Simon, 84 Sylvan Simon, 86 Daniel Stein, 71 Melvin Wax, 88 Irving Youngner, 69

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