VOCAL / CHORAL COMPOSER & ARRANGER
My work as a composer and arranger was originally born out of necessity: I grew up in a church musician family, and improvisation/loose composition was considered a normal, expected part of that skill-set. Later, long after I’d left the church, gone to college and followed a very different musical path, it became a skill that I put to use for my clients — arranging pieces and writing accompaniment for my students’ auditions, performances, and other musical needs.
More recently, it’s been something that I’ve further pursued because it’s an outlet for me, artistically. Through my composition work, I’ve been able to explore and renegotiate my relationship with liturgical music — something that I’ve long been at odds with because I, as a queer trans person, was openly rejected by the religious institutions in which I was raised.
My original music is not entirely liturgically-based, but that foundation does underscore the soundscape of what I write, and it is a point of pride (and yes, rebellion!) for me to write liturgical music for queer and trans voices. The anthem, Tantum ergo, was premiered at the very first instance of a trans choir singing the liturgy in a high church environment — for Pride Sunday 2022 in NYC at St. John’s in the Village.
My secular vocal work frequently involves mash-ups, parodies or comedic lyric re-writes (often with trans or queer themes) for cabaret/drag performances.
If you are interested in perusing a score, performing any of my works or commissioning a piece, please reach out to me directly.
CATALOGUE
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Christmas Waltz (arr., 3 part choir & piano)
God Bless America (3-part treble chorus)
Face to Face (arr., 4 part choir & piano) — In memory of my mother.
L’Amor Donna (arr. 4-part chorus)
L’Amour de Moy (arr., 3-part chorus & string ens.)
Lord, Lettest Now Thy Servant (arr. & English translation, 4-part chorus)
The Listening Eye (4-part chorus & improvisational soloists)
Shiru L’Adonai (arr. 5-part choir)
O Gladsome Light (arr., 4-part choir)
Quelle est cette odeur (arr., 5 part choir & soloist)
Star-Spangled Banner (4-part choir)
Stations of the Lost: A Trans Requiem (5-part chorus & percussion)
Three Motets (Tantum Ergo, O Salutaris Hostia, O Sacrum Convivium) (4 & 5 part choir)
Tristis est anima mea (realized & arra. 2-part choir & continuou)
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Complaint of the Seine (K. Weill) - arr. English translation
Death is Just Around the Corner (arr., alternate lyrics, voice & piano)
Diamond Trilogy (arr. Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend, Diamonds, Diamonds Are Forever, voice & piano)
I Want to Be Bad (arr., alternate lyrics, voice & piano)
Penitence/Old-Time Religion (Beethoven/P. Millsap, arr. voice & piano)
Poor, Wayfaring Stranger (arr. voice & piano)
Poor Wayfaring Stranger (voice & instr. ensemble)
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Gabriel’s Message (arr., voice, flute & piano)
Maria Wanders Through the Thorn (arr., voice & instr. ensemble)
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Friends on the Other Side (arr., voice & instr. ensemble)
Waltz for Strings (string ensemble)