Walk For Trombone Quartet-

Instrumentation: Four Trombones

Time Approximation: 2:30 seconds

Walk for Trombone Quartet is a quartet piece I wrote for trombones after getting stuck for hours in Boston Logan Airport. As I sat there with nothing but time, I started watching the people around me—rushing, pacing, strolling, zig-zagging with luggage, aimlessly wandering, or briskly marching to their gates. It struck me how differently everyone moves, yet how they’re all walking with purpose, even if their paths don’t look the same. That simple observation became the core inspiration for Walk. 

The music reflects that sense of varied movement—sometimes steady and deliberate, sometimes syncopated or playful, and occasionally full of unexpected turns. It’s not meant to feel dense or heavy; instead, written to feel full of drive. Just like the travelers I saw, each voice in the quartet has its own personality—crossing paths, trading leads, and pushing the pace forward without ever losing the sense of relaxed motion. There's a subtle groove, but also room for musicians to bring out character and color in their own way.

Comprehensive Recording Link- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvOMAj9p6HI

Blue Moon Bounce For Jazz Ensemble- 

Instrumentation: Jazz Ensemble/ Quintet

Time Approximation: 5:30 seconds (solos depending)

Blue Moon Bounce is a piece I wrote as a way of bottling up where I’m from — the coastline, the people, and the sounds that raised me in Western California. Growing up surrounded by the ocean air and the laid-back rhythm of coastal life, jazz wasn’t just something I listened to it was something I was brought up in. Whether it was the buskers on the street corners of Santa Cruz, local big band festivals at Cabrillo College, or the well-worn Clifford Brown records my grandfather used to play on the weekends, the West Coast jazz scene shaped who I am, long before I ever realized it.

This piece is a nod to that lineage to the bounce and swing of the past generations of Northern California, and to the feeling of watching the moon rise over the Pacific, when everything seems to slow down just enough to take it all in. Blue Moon Bounce blends an easy groove with playful harmonic turns that reflect the spirit of those formative musical moments. It’s not flashy, and it’s not trying to be. It’s familiar, like a late-night drive down Highway 101 meant to make you feel good, the way the best kind of music always does.

*Video Available ToThe Left*

Libertango Arranged For Trombone Duet- 

Instrumentation: Trombone Duo

Originally Written By Astor Piazzolla

Time Approximation: 2:15

Leave Her Be- For Trombone Quartet

Estimated- 3:30sec, depending on repeats

Instrumentation-

Three Tenor Trombones

One Bass Trombone 

Piece Background-

Leave Her Be is one of the most personal pieces I’ve written—a slow, bluesy work for three trombones and bass trombone that came out of a moment of homesickness and emotional stillness. I wrote it during a time when I was missing home in a way that felt deeper than just geography. It wasn’t about wanting to go back as I wrote it missing familiarity, people, the small routines that make you feel grounded and known. The kind of love you can’t quite recreate, only remember. The piece moves through a slow, triplet-heavy groove, almost like it’s walking through memory. The harmonies stay close, but there's weight behind them. I wanted the voices to feel like they were leaning on each other, moving gently but carrying something heavy underneath, always passing the triplet pattern. 

For me, Leave Her Be is about that internal dialogue we sometimes have when thinking about people or places we’ve left behind. It’s the realization that some things you love aren’t meant to be chased, and that sometimes the most honest answer to pain or longing is simply to let go—to leave her be. I hope performers can connect to that idea and bring out the subtle sadness and emotional depth that sits just beneath the surface of everyday life. It’s a piece meant to breathe, to ache a little, and to help remind me that not every story has a solution.

*Recording Pending* *Mp3 viewable to the left*

Slide Her Away- For Trombone Quartet

Estimated- 2:50-minutes, depending on repeats

Instrumentation-

Three Tenor Trombones

One Bass Trombone (Tenor Trombone Optional) 

Piece Background-

Slide Her Away grew out of my desire to use the natural register of the trombone as both a musical and personal metaphor. I wanted to capture the feeling of “sliding” or “tucking” thoughts away as a symbol of finding healthy release when life feels cluttered or heavy. Rather than leaning into tension, the piece embraces the trombone’s lyricism and playfulness, showing how release can also be a source of joy in a swing-inspired style.

Smooth sliding gestures mimic drifting thoughts, while overlapping lines create moments of push and pull, echoing how emotions often rise and fade in layers. At times the ensemble moves together in unison, symbolizing clarity, before splitting apart into counterpoint that suggests complexity returning. These shifts mirror the ongoing process of finding balance, where peace is never permanent but always possible. Composing this piece was also about honoring jazz tradition while carving out space for personal expression. The trombone’s unique voice in jazz—from the bebop lines of J.J. Johnson to the lyrical melodies of Urbie Green—demands expression through melodic phrasing and clear counterpoint. Yet at its heart, Slide Her Away is about fostering community and openness, reminding us that music can be a way to process, to share, and to connect with others.

*Recording Pending* *Mp3 viewable to the left*

Beltline Of the East. - For Wind Band

Estimated- 5:51, depending on repeats

Instrumentation-

Wind Band

(Limited Percussion)

Piece Background-

Beltline of the East reflects my individual journey of learning to embrace tension and uncertainty, both in music and in life. The piece leans into moments of dissonance and tightly compacted chords, allowing ambiguous textures to unfold without resolving to a single tonal center. Each shifting line represents the constant movement and unpredictability of everyday life, especially the restless rhythm and unpredictability of being a young American trying to find balance in a world that rarely stands still.

By embracing dissonance rather than resolving it, Beltline of the East reflects my belief that harmony in life isn’t the absence of conflict, but rather understanding of how to exist within it and make it beautiful. When I was a kid, my dad told me that everyone has to establish their own “beltline,” the point that defines how much they can handle and where their sense of balance lies. That idea has stayed with me(annoyingly). The things above the belt represent what we can control, while the moments that fall below it test our patience, values, and resilience. Like life, this piece lives in many aspects below the belt, showing that who we are is often revealed not by what we avoid, but by how we respond when things fall below the moral belt.

Ultimately, Beltline of the East challenges both the performer and the listener to hear beyond expectation and find coherence and meaning within the raw, unfiltered soundscape of everyday life. As we grow older, we’re often measured against others, creating a kind of social dissonance that makes it harder to define our own values and sense of identity in an increasingly disconnected world. My hope is that this piece serves as a reminder that we all have the power to turn life’s dissonance into something meaningful — to make our own kind of lemonade out of the lemon chaos. Its unapologetic lack of a tonal center reflects that search for inner peace amid noise, inviting each listener to find balance within the unpredictable rhythms and sounds of modern life.

*Recording Pending* *Mp3 viewable to the left*

Hopeful - For Solo Cello

Time Elapsed- 1:00

Instrumentation-

Solo Cello

Piece Background-

Hopeful is a one-minute work for solo cello that I composed as part of an analytical and audience-response study funded through the Think Big Grant, done to measure if students can hear emotions pieces are trying to evoke. The piece was designed to support a research survey examining how listeners interpret emotional cues in short-form instrumental music, integrating musical expression with measurable perceptual data.

The premiere performance was given by cellist Okorie Johnson, whose expressive tone and interpretive sensitivity shaped the piece’s first public impression massively.

*Recording Pending* *Mp3 viewable to the left*