Selected compositions, hosted by American Music Center's on-line music library.

Click on the title to listen. More music has arrived (latest: 1/9/07), and more is coming - please keep checking back! Please contact me for performance materials and permissions.

Instrumental Music

Whistlesparks (2006) - for flute and harp
The premiere performance, by Lisa Lutton (flute) and Arielle (harp) at the Broadway Presbyterian Church in Manhattan in October 2006.
A really good midi demo of the piece. Seriously - you'll be impressed!

Quintet for Bassoon and String Quartet - 1st Movement "Noë Noë" (1996, rev. 2005) (6 min. 19 sec.)
Performed by the Momenta String Quartet and Alden Banta at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, December 17, 2005

Mejdoub (1998) for accordion, clarinet, drums, electric guitar, and piano (9.5 minutes)
An exuberant romp, written for friends and performed by them here.
Mikko Luoma, Accordion; Dennis Joseph, Clarinet; Daniel Sonenberg, Drums; Matthew Schickele; Electric Guitar; and Kerstin Costa, Piano, in Brooklyn, New York, 1999.

This is the original version - I have subsequently revised the piece (this year), and may make a recording of the revised version available soon. Also, I hope to improve the sound quality on this recording some time.

Six Small Pieces for Clarinet and Piano (1997, c. 12 min.)
A collection of miniatures ranging in feeling from nostalgic, to playful, to kooky, to serene and reflective. Performed here by Dennis Joseph, clarinet, and Kerstin Costa, piano, at Merkin Concert Hall, New York.
I. Baseball Trains
II. "Bluebird-like"
III. Primate Behavior
IV. Wozzeck
V. Minimal
VI. Erinnerung: 31 October 1981 (in memoriam, Neil Sonenberg)

Vocal Music and Opera

The Summer King Suite (2003). (18 min. 12 sec)
The earliest incarnation of my opera, The Summer King, based on the life of Negro League baseball legend Josh Gibson. This suite, with a libretto by Daniel Nester, was composed in 2003 as part of American Opera Projects Composers and the Voice series. The suite presents Josh Gibson on his dying day, having visions of Joe DiMaggio. His lover, Grace, tries unsuccessfully to calm him, and ultimately laments her own frustration in a concluding aria. Several interjections by a Sports Writer outline some of the highlights of Gibson's career, focusing particularly on the most controversial event - the day he was reputed to have hit a ball clear out of Yankee Stadium (the only person ever to have managed the feat). This recording was made at the Manhattan School of Music in 2004, and features Gregory Rahming, baritone (Josh Gibson); Jeniece Goldbourne, mezzo (Grace); Kevin McKelvy, Sportswriter (tenor), and Isaac Grier, Scott Joiner and Jessical Kimpel as the chorus. The piano is played by Grant Loehnig.

Grace's Aria (last part of the suite)
Some of the music from the suite does not appear in the opera, although Grace's aria does - click here to cut to the chase. Performed, as above, by Jeniece Goldbourne, mezzo, and Grant Loehnig, piano.

Baseball Songs (1999)
A tribute to my favorite sport. In these five songs, baseball is considered from many perspectives: the star pitcher in the heat of battle, the sentimental sportscaster, eulogizing a fallen captain and calling an important game; an aging, lamenting pitcher, and a daydreaming fan. Performed here by Robert Gardner, baritone, and Lydia Brown, piano, on 9/9/99, at Christ and St. Stephen's Church, NY NY.
I. The Bases Were Drunk (text by Ed Lynch)
II. Prayer for the Captain/Imagine (texts by Phil Rizzuto)
III. Old (G)love (text by Dan Quisenberry)
IV. In My Meanest Daydream (text by Gary Gildner)

The Art of Eating (2001)
The Art of Eating is a cycle of seven songs about food with texts by contemporary women writers. I was initially inspired to undertake this project by the writings of M.F.K. Fisher, from whose volume of collected works the title of my own set is borrowed. Although at first I thought that my sole subject matter would be food, I very quickly came to realize that this topic is inseparable from the numerous other themes that comprise the fabric of our daily lives. In my search for food-related poetry and prose, I was particularly struck by the degree to which ideas about food are inextricably linked to ideas about gender. My decision to use only texts by women writers enabled me to explore this connection, and challenged me to identify and cast aside my male perspective.
Performed here by Re'ut Ben Ze'ev, Soprano, and Michal Friedlander, Piano, in 2001, at the Flea Theatre in New York City.
I. When a Man is Small (text by M.F.K. Fisher)
II. Gobble Gobble (text by Carla Drysdale)
III. Les Amants (text by Carla Drysdale)
IV. Scrambled Eggs (text by M.F.K. Fisher)
V. I Imagine I Answer Your Letter (text by Alison Jarvis)
VI. Midwest Albas (text by Collette Inez)

Some Years From Now (2001 - text by Mark Campbell)
This song, with lyrics by Mark Campbell, was composed for a production of Chiori Miyagawa's play, Woman Killer, by the New York-based theatre company Crossing Jamaica Avenue. This demo recording features me on nylon string guitar and voice.

Howlers (1996 - text by I. Devore)
My own performance of this particularly odd setting of I Devore's "Howlers," which is really an excerpt, selected almost at random, from I. Devore's Primate Behavior: Field Studies of Monkeys and Apes. The text was suggested to me by David Del Tredici. I'm playing nylon string guitar and singing in this c. 2004 recording.