Interweaving is my ongoing collection of solo and chamber works that empower both seasoned and developing brass performers to explore extended techniques and post-Cagean notation. I believe this is best done at each performer’s own pace in order to limit or prevent the sense of overwhelm that can arise when first grappling with the experimental concepts broadly termed “new music” in the United States. It is not uncommon for cornerstones of this repertoire to ask performers to present multiple extended techniques in formats that may require years or decades of practice, but the gap between pieces requiring none of this experience and pieces demanding extensive experience can be vast. This can create barriers to access for performers of all backgrounds, but particularly those without academic connections, those without teachers who actively perform experimental music, those who are working to rectify pedagogical gaps in their prior education, and those for whom performing certain extended techniques may be disabling or otherwise biomechanically impossible.

Spurred on by my own struggles to 1) find experimental repertoire that asked mostly or exclusively for less physically demanding techniques and 2) stay away from the extremes of the upper register in order to accommodate the at-times-disabling nature of my TMJ, Interweaving as a concept began as a gift to myself. It also became an offering to my colleagues, many of whom are doing the best they can to teach students to work with all forms of modern classical-based musics while retroactively filling the new-music-shaped gaps in their own extensive educations. While I do not pretend to be an expert in trumpet pedagogy or an end-all-be-all of knowledge regarding experimental brass music, I intend to use Interweaving to share what skills and information I have acquired by composing works that address what I see as gaps in contemporary brass (especially trumpet) repertoire. Ultimately, I hope to one day have a collection of works that makes my music accessible and enjoyable to performers at as many skill and (dis)ability levels as possible, no matter how many years they’ve spent striving to perfect their technique.

Interweaving is not a method or any kind of rigid pedagogical structure; instead, it is a compositional collection of my works which may provide points of entry to various technical and notational horizons. Performers need not approach it sequentially (and absolutely should not approach it chronologically unless you are already a relatively experienced experimental performer). It is my hope that trumpeters—and ideally, in the long run as my output grows, other instrumentalists—can interface with these works as frequently or infrequently as they like across many years, coming back to the collection for enjoyment, exploration, or a bit of both. At this stage, the project is big enough to quantify but still rather difficult to categorize, so its organizational structures may shift over time.

[Nuts and bolts: generally when I am referring to the project at large, I call it Interweaving, but when speaking about the specific group of works, I use the Interweaving Collection. I hope this helps with any confusion!]

Oh, and a brief note: I am not 100% consistent in my alternative notations. When applicable, I try to note where I got a notehead from the historical canon, but I don’t always ask for the same noteheads to be realized the same ways. This is partly because I am forgetful and partly because there aren’t universal standards for which noteheads mean which things. Please don’t assume the way I do things is always the way everyone else does!

Works by instrumentation:

For solos and chamber music with multiple instrumentations, you’ll find full specifications in the index at the bottom. Click on each instance of “[title] technique and notation specs” to be magically taken there!

Text scores for any instrumentation:

just a little bit—open score.

like no one’s watching—open score. (CW: sexual assault)

Panic I and Panic II—open score. (CW: depictions of trauma)

Trumpet, cornet, and flugelhorn solos:

go to the garden for trumpet and fixed media—3′, 6’10”, or 9′. go to the garden technique and notation specs

Helios for trumpet and fixed media—8’30”. Motivic material is provided as suggestions to include in the cadenza near the end of the piece, but it is up to the performer to assemble that section of their performance.

whispers i & ii for trumpet and optional fixed media—2’+. Half valve, slap tongue, and air sounds are present in this work, each with its own notehead. While written for C trumpet, whispers is playable on any trumpet with or without transposition.

Zero G for trumpet and fixed media—3’45” or 4’15”. Zero G technique and notation specs

Trombone solos:

LETTING GO (off the cliff) for tenor trombone and optional electronics—open duration. Extremely limited motivic material is presented; the performer may alter, move between, add content, or delete content in a fairly liberally improvisatory manner. [If you are interested in this piece, please drop me a line before purchasing; it’s been a few years, and I’d like to give it a good once-over before you buy it.]

go to the garden for trombone and fixed media—3′, 6’10”, or 9′. go to the garden technique and notation specs

Parades Into the Void for trombone and piano—4’20”. Flutter tongue (growl is an appropriate substitution), sung multiphonics.

Euphonium and tuba solos:

go to the garden for euphonium or tuba and fixed media—3′, 6’10”, or 9′. go to the garden technique and notation specs

Zero G for euphonium and fixed media—3’45” or 4’15”. Zero G technique and notation specs

Chamber music:

Earthquake City for eight trumpets—5’40”. Spatial notation is used.

KENOCHORIC for brass quintet—approx. 18′. As of 2025, this is my most difficult (and dense) piece in terms of extended techniques. Alternative noteheads are used for: approximate pitches, air sounds, half-valve notes, and sung multiphonics. Split tones and granular sound are used in this piece. Microphones and stopwatches are recommended for this piece.

Pushing Back for bass clarinet, trumpet, and fixed media—4’35”. Mix of standard notation and 30-40″ sections where the performers are given text instructions to realize.

Shatter the Heavens for three trombones and two tubas—5′. Performers need to swap in and out of mouthpieces with bassoon reeds fixed inside (I recommend cheap synthetic reeds affixed with stickytack). When using the bassoon reeds, alternate notation methods are used. Additionally, noteheads are used to call for the highest or lowest possible note. Seconds notation is used heavily. (You could almost certainly play this piece with two bass trombones in lieu of tubas, or three euphoniums in lieu of trombones.)

Storm Warning for five trumpets—5’40”. Spatial notation and choose-your-own-adventure notation (similar to go to the garden and the build-a-cadenza in Helios) are used.

Index of pieces with multiple instrumentations (sorted alphabetically by title):

go to the garden for trumpet, trombone, euphonium, or tuba and fixed media—3′, 6’10”, or 9′. Light singing through the horn; optional ingressive singing. Cell notation in one ~25″ section (6’10” and 9′ versions only), offering a variety of motivic options which the performer may pick and choose from or alter in a semi-improvisatory manner. No free improvisation required. (French horn edition coming in 2025.) Microphones and stopwatches are recommended for this piece.

Zero G for trumpet or euphonium and fixed media—3’45” or 4’15”. Air sounds through the horn; two 10-20-bar opportunities for improvisation in the middle of the piece. Additional time for improvisation at the beginning of the piece in the 4’15” version only. (I will probably end up adapting this for additional instruments based on performer interest.) Microphones and stopwatches are recommended for this piece.