Like many of us, I watched a lot of TV during the initial Covid Shutdown… My adoration for the music of shows such as Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad, Fargo, and others led me to think about making my own scores. I spent October digging through old public domain films and playing music to accompany them, this will be the first of many! Featuring myself on drums, piano, and didgeridoo.

The fourth movement of Philippe Manoury’s Masterpiece for percussion ensemble; Le Livre des Claviers, is a beautiful solo for Vibraphone. One of my favorite works to perform, Manoury draws a huge range of colors out of the instrument in an emotionally packed 7 minutes. The recording has an unfortunate backgound “scratchiness” to it, but just pretend it’s playing on an old Vinyl, pour a glass of wine, and enjoy.

Joseph Pereira, Echi Dromi. Viola Chan, Flute.

Drawing inspiration from truly “Early” music, Joseph Pereira beautiful incorporates rhythmic and melodic modes of traditional Byzantine music with Flute and Doumbek.

Echi: sounds, rhythms. Dromi: ways, melodies.

Christian Wolff, Exercise 32 for solo Percussion.

Mr. Wolff gives the usual “lack” of instructions for this unique solo piece. All instrument choices and tempi are left to the performer. A mix of standard notation, pitched material, text, and “grid” notation are used in the score. Sound, silence, never the same twice.

Stratis Minakakis, Diaploys.

From Stratis:

The word “diaploys” in Greek means sailing through. Diaploys is the third in a family of works that relate to Odysseus’ sea voyages towards home. As in the case of Apoploys I, Diaploys is a commentary on verses 78-80 from the 13th book of the Odyssey: as the Phaiakians “rowed vigorously’’ towards Ithaka, Odysseus is overcome by a sweet, deep slumber, “very akin to death”. The work is conceived as a series of escalating waves, tracing a tense, fragile line and its shadows throughout the piece.

Mistral Music Orchestra with Sir Simon Rattle.

An unforgettable evening with an orchestra comprised of members of the Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and others, coming together under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle, to raise funds for underserved women with breast cancer in Greater Boston.

Mozart- overture to the Marriage of Figaro

Beethoven- Symphony no. 9, mvt III

Brahms- Symphony no. 1

Milton Babbitt, Concerto Piccolino for Solo Vibraphone.

I have heard from colleagues of Mr. Babbitt that he was an excellent Pop pianist at dinner parties . This short, playful, and expressive vibraphone solo has always felt to me like a pop tune for serial ears. Although a technical nightmare, this piece is one of my favorites to perform, and was the beginning of my Masters Recital in 2019.

Xenakis - Dmaathen for Oboe and Percussion

Mary O’Keefe - Oboe

““If Illumination is the word we use for revealing something with light, then the word for revealing something with sound should be Dmaathen ... “ -Steve Schick

Gunther Schuller, Marimbology , for solo marimba

Gérard Grisey, Stele, for 2 bass drums, feat. Ye Young Yoon

Karlheinz Stockhausen, Vibra Elufa, for solo vibraphone

Chuchu Wen - Outside of the Temple for solo percussion.

Written for Sam Solomon’s “Setup”, Chuchu’s beautiful , contemplative percussion solo is inspired by the Japanese fairy tale of Princess Kaguya, or the Tale of Bamboo Cutter.

Strauss, Ein Heldenleben , Battle Scene

The Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra conducted by Andris Nelsons, 2018

Aaron Copland - Symphony 3, excerpt from mvt II

Tanglewood Music Center conducted by Stefan Asbury, 2018

Schuller - Grand Concerto for Percussion & Keyboards

New England Conservatory Percussion Ensemble, conducted by Frank Epstein