Blessing

Blessing is an instrumental wind ensemble piece featuring a simple theme stretched out over nine minutes, one large crescendo giving way to a river of bells and percussion slowing drifting away over the horizon. It was composed for…

State of the Art Veterinarian

Here is the story of a veterinarian leaving his warm home on a difficult road trip to struggle with a dairy farmer who is having trouble. The farmer’s surface problem is his under-producing cows, however there are deeper issues related to the pressures and growing pains of inheriting a farm…

Confrontatie: The Wheels

Here’s a musical Confrontatie to Aarti Sequeira’s Recipe “Ezekiel’s Wheel Chickpea Salad” that she graciously submitted to Bible Confrontatie. The recipe, her delightful presentation, and the wild story of Ezekiel’s Vision of the Wheel in Ezekiel Chapter 1 inspired this song. In true Confrontatie style, I picked a few specific parts of Aarti’s submission to create…

Eyes of Your Heart

How fascinating is the concept that your heart could have eyes… Here’s a piece to be whispered… “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance…

I am a Fool

Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you…

How Beautiful

A track from Project Paul, setting the famous 1 Corinthians chapter 13 on love. “How Beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” When I perform this piece in Project Paul (as you hear it now) there is dancing and it features a fine saxophone quartet made up of…

Two Vines Around a Tree

Here’s the hymn from Emily Zempel and my wedding!

I have to credit Emily on this one as well since she delivered the whole concept. She told me when we got engaged…

Prayer from Project Paul

Listen/Download:Prayer

Prayer, composed in 2003, was originally commissioned by Baritone Scott Hawley for his senior recital at Lawrence University. I then included it as the final scene in Project Paul, the multimedia show I co-wrote in 2005 about the Apostle Paul. The text is…

Remember Me

Listen/Download: Remember Me

This song was written for my Grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary three summers ago. They are very special to me. I love the text taken from Ecclesiastes 2. Their constant love and faith ceaselessly moves through our family as a river and will continue to flow for generations. At the end of the day…

Take to Heart

Listen/Download: Take to Heart

Take to Heart was written as a sing-a-long for our small Lutheran church in Queens, Sure Foundation, for a church service. The recording features little sounds from our (my wife Emily and I) apartment in NYC. A year ago I wasn’t even dating the woman I’m married to, so a lot has changed! One of the changes has been…

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