Mornings in Portland can be so breathtaking

Happy holidays from Portland! Wishing everyone a few days of nourishing rest, tasty food, good company, and a quiet moment to cherish it all.

Was not expecting to drive on hard mode today and then All Classical Radio starts playing the theme from Princess Bride 😭😭😭😭

After a few test runs this weekend to remember how to tape bind music correctly (!!), these pieces are off today to the American String Teachers Association for the national conference this February! ✏️ After these are sent, it’s back to the writing desk again at last! 🎶

I remember in high school & college it was such a tragedy when Friday night was slow / uneventful, but as an adult (especially in the arts!) I am filled with giddiness at an empty Friday evening!

"I can't afford to support my favorite author right now, I—" Reviews. Reviews are free AND they are a gift to authors that can keep on giving (i.e., exposure, marketing, algo boosts, etc.) Please, give the gift of reviews to your authors this holiday season. It really can make a difference!

I won’t be able to attend (the cost of conferences my GOODNESS), but I’m happy to share that 3 of my works—string orch, viola/pno, harp—will be on the American String Teachers Association’s New Music Readings at the national conference this spring in San Fransisco! Off to edit, print, & ship! 😅

Very excited for this update to the bio!!

The PNW goes so hard

This premiere is coming up fast! So excited for this performance of a multi-movement work for clarinet + string quartet. I haven’t written for string quartet in soooo long, and it was a blast to play with all the different colors & learn from the scores of so many cool composers ❤️

Incredibly grateful to pianist & curator Nathaniel LaNasa for programming my work on the New York Festival of Song's NYFOS Next series! While I can't be there in person, if any of my NYC friends are in town, I hope you can make it! The rest of the program sounds really lovely.

Taking time today to sort out what’s happening for the next year (?!) on the writing desk. That’s a lot of PB&J’s and emotional support beverages—best get started!

after a clarinet player was arrested at Sunday's ICE protest in downtown Portland, I talked to five artists, crafters and makers - a puppet designer, an illustrator, a graphic designer, a knitter, and a theatre artist - about creativity under fascism www.orartswatch.org/resistance-c...

Good morning, mountain ☕️

Composer achievement unlocked: having my last name in the concert title! So excited to be able to attend the premiere of this work in-person here in Portland, alongside a piece I was actually listening to when I wrote the last movement 🥰

Finishing up work this next week on a new bass clarinet solo for a buddy from grad school (so ignore the messy score)! We’ve been wanting to collab again forever, so I’m extra excited to be working on this!! Current beverage tally: ☕️ - 21 🫖 - 14 💧- 17 🥃 - 2 🔥🍫 - 1 🍋 - 1

LA: we will fight you. Chicago: we will fight you. PDX: we will make you endure week after week of of improv theater.

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

Food for the big game** tonight **dark souls 2 dlc

New score video is up today! This 2022 piece is a love letter to 3 endangered species. While a bit unnerving at first glance, each has such unique and charming features—it was a joy to capture them in this short work for clarinet, horn & bassoon. Happy October, friends! 🎃 youtu.be/3bFbZzWjgIo?...

Had a blast Zoom-ing in for a rehearsal of my string orchestra piece, “To Burst” with a group in MN. This piece was originally written for students who had lost their teacher. She was a really special lady, and I’m so happy to see this piece - and the light she inspired - out in the world again!

I just found out my setting of "My Father's Dragon" will be featured on part the grand opening of this incredible exhibit at The Rabbit hOle, with members of the author’s family in attendance! To say I'm honored is an understatement!!

So excited by these awesome musicians programming my music this fall! There are never guarantees our work will be heard, and I remain deeply grateful for every performance that takes place. Especially excited for the world premiere in December, and to be included on the NY Festival of Song!

Just submitted to a call-for-scores for orchestra for the first time since I was in school (never had a piece that fit these calls before now). While it is HIGHLY unlikely anything will come of it, I'm still proud of myself for actually sending something in that I feel good about!

This week is all about bass clarinet and shipwrecks and warm beverages at home! 🎶🪨☕️ Beverage count for this project so far: ☕️ - 8 🍵 - 6 💧 - 6 🔥🍫 - 2

Genuinely powerful words to live by.

I took some time this weekend to try making my first score video — this short piece for mixed winds is by far one of my most-programmed works, so it felt like the perfect fit for my first attempt! 🎶 Happy listening 🎶

Did the laundry (and put it away??), cleaned up the house, got organized for the week, and did some baking—a very procrasti-productive day! Tomorrow, we write!! ✏️🎶

This piece is officially off to the fine musicians of Chatters ABQ & PDX! I’m so grateful I got the chance to write for these two incredible ensembles, and I can’t wait to share more about this work closer to the premiere! No rest for the wicked—onto bass clarinet land to write about shipwrecks! 🪨🚢

This last movement was a real challenge because it’s so different from what I normally write, but it felt good to push myself & get inspired by other music when stuck. This movement features little outbursts from each player, and it was fun to imagine what each one was going on about while writing!

DOUBLE BARLINE, BABYYYY!!

A little reset before a weekend of wrapping up the last movement of a new work for clarinet + string quartet, and editing parts. This movement in particular has been a real doozy—so!!!! many!! things!!! happening!!!!—but I think it’s going to turn out alright.

It’s Bandcamp Friday! While I don’t have an album of my own, I am fortunate enough to have music on several lovely albums by some really fantastic musicians with incredible composers—check them out to hear chickens, penguins, wind octet deliciousness, and even a choose-your-own-adventure piece!

Writing a fast movement with a lot of effects and this is basically flashing across my mind the entire time:

PRO WRITING TIP: When you have to write really aggressive/angry music but you are just not in the mood, edit the score & parts instead—the anger will come 🥰

Two movements down, one to go! This project’s beverage count so far: ☕️ - 23 🍵 - 13 💧 - 18 🧋- 1 🍷 - 2 🍺- 3

There are two projects I want to talk about publicly but cannot just yet.......as a professional-grade yapper, please send help

It was too gorgeous not to squeeze in a walk this afternoon—I’ve had a wonderful time adventuring this month, but I’m happy to be back in Portland ❤️

“The excitement of grainy film, of bleached-out black and white, is the excitement of witnessing events too momentous for the medium assigned to record them." -Brian Eno

Back at the writing desk this week! Wrapping up movement 2 of 3 on an exciting commission, inspired by different types of conversations. While I’ve always loved writing for clarinet, I haven't had much opportunity to write for string quartet, so I've been really enjoying playing around with this!

I was taking time to get my writing projects organized in my calendar—and realized I’m nearly booked out to the end of 2026 for commissions 🤯 If you’ve been thinking you want to reach about a commission to be finished in the next year, connect with me soon!

What could be better than one orange cat? Two orange cats 🐈🐈

I have a lot to say about the last 36 hours, but WOW - the premiere of NIGHT LIGHTS has been such an amazing experience. I couldn’t be more proud to have had my music performed by these awe-inspiring young musicians.

Someone on Twitter posted that they had run into Philip Glass at their lower Manhattan polling place, saying nice things about Mamdani. The campaign put this up as a quote-tweet within the hour.

"Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was released Friday from federal immigration detention, freed after three months by a judge’s ruling after becoming a symbol of President Donald Trump ’s clampdown on campus protests." huge W apnews.com/article/mahm...

"Things might be tough but it's great for artists! They'll create more!" You might not believe me but going through a lifetime's worth of stress Every Single Week for years and years- is actually not the optimal set of circumstances that inspires artists to create

So thrilled to be part of this fantastic album!

There has been a LOT of times I’ve been in a room with people I respect all telling me “no,” or “that’s too much work,” or “that will never happen,” or even “that is dumb to try, actually.”