The following tracks and videos…

…are selections from my commercial recordings, live performances, improvisations, and "Lectures." Consider following me on Soundcloud or subscribing to my YouTube channel to hear more tracks and keep up to date on my latest works. Also, my music is available for purchase via CD or download if you’re so inclined. See my “Discography” page to get connected with purchase options for my formal commercial releases. And now for some music…

Baucis and Philemon (2023)

This multimedia chamber opera is likely my most ambitious work to date, in terms of length, scope, and number of collaborators. The libretto is by Stephen Tuttle, a fiction writer, friend, and next-door neighbor of many years. We collaborated back in 2010 on a multimedia monodrama for solo piano, video, and electronic sound called Medusa in Fragments, which was based on Greek mythology and invited other collaborators to work with us—the current opera builds and expands on that earlier approach and is certainly connected to it.

When we first began brainstorming ideas for the subject of this current project, we started with the Old Testament, including the stories of Adam and Eve, Lot and his wife, and others. For whatever reason—perhaps the difficulty of working with and setting texts too close to us and our religious tradition (?)—we found our way back to Greek mythology and the story of Baucis and Philemon. As a sort of artistic/dramatic challenge, we liked the idea of focusing on two trees on the bank of a lake—the last part of this couple’s story—not the typical setup for an action-packed sequence. The passing of time is marked by the passing seasons and different types of weather and environments, and the texts and the music/sound they inspired represent reflections on life and death, the passing of time, the nature of long-term relationships—I suppose in my mind the things that existence is made of.

I am very grateful to the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts for the generous development grant that allowed me to begin this project back in 2019 (!), and is providing some key support as I finally finish it. I am especially thankful for their patience as complications and restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the initial plans for the premiere in 2020, and added further delays which I have only recently overcome. The opera was premiered October 27-28, 2023, in The Box, a flexible venue in BYU’s new Music Building in Provo, UT, and there is a large cast of collaborators who are contributing to the premiere in a number of ways, including: David Habben and Brent Barson, animation and video; Shea Owens, direction and singing the part of “Philemon”; Madison Leonard singing the part of “Baucis”; Brian Christensen, metal tree sculptures that double as percussion instruments; Michael Kraczek, lighting design; and team-teaching colleague and friend Steve Peck who provided field recordings of the lazuli bunting and Provo river.

Grants from the Film and Digital Media Fund through the BYU School of Music made shooting and editing the following video of the final performance possible. Thanks to Brandon Arnold for his direction and Makenna Buhler for her editing.

To read a review of the premiere performances by my friend and former colleague Michael Hicks, click on the link HERE. To read a review of the opera video by Utah Theatre Bloggers Association, click on the link HERE.

As I often say: please enjoy!

Motor Culture (2021-22)

Commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for SPLICE Ensemble, Motor Culture is a three-movement sonic reflection on the different ways automobiles impact life and culture. It was premiered at BYU in October 2021 and reprised at SPLICE Institute in summer 2022. Here is a performance of the third and most somber movement, III. Disastrous Experiment…sound clips from recent news reports on automobile violence are combined with resonances to provide a backdrop to the instrumental music…elements from Katy Perry’s song “Firework” find their way into this movement as a veiled reference to some tragedy friends of mine experienced years ago. We rely so much on cars…and they can be so destructive in so many ways.

Overlapping voices (2021-22)

Overlapping Voices is a musical meditation on cultural identity that takes as its point of departure the vantage point of Professor Jihea Hong-Park, an Asian American born in Korea and now living in the United States. As Jihea and I discussed the sort of piece we could create, we settled on the idea of pre-existing songs representing two different cultural identities: the children's song "Gohyang-ui Bom" ("Spring in My Hometown") to represent Korean identity (a song Jihea remembers from her youth), and the United States National Anthem to represent American identity. The piece grows out of these two songs being juxtaposed against one another, and as it builds momentum, additional musical elements intrude. To further create an awareness of one's struggle for personal identity, we project quotes from current articles and situations that express viewpoints of several Asian Americans. We hope the music, sound, and projected text help listeners empathize with the sort of conflict and struggle people from different countries and cultures often feel, and the discrimination they experience, when living in America. How can we do our part to help everyone feel welcomed and stand against hatred and prejudice?

Heavy with sonata (2021)

In preparation for a forthcoming New Focus Recordings release of Baroque-inspired music, I completed this trio for violin, viola, and harpsichord to fit with two other pieces intended for the album: Reconstructing the Lost Improvisations of Aldo Pilestri, and Piece for Mixed Quartet. Heavy with Sonata takes the Baroque Sonata da camera as its point of departure, and is a three-movement work that includes influences from dance forms including sarabande, gigue, allemande, and courente. The performance in the following video is its world premiere, given by Aubrey and Alex Woods (violin and viola), and Jason Hardink (harpsichord). Aubrey and Alex ended up playing on modern instruments but with Baroque bows.

(Re)Creating Zion (2019)

I received a commission from the Dixie State University (soon to be Utah Tech University) School of Music in 2019 to write a quadruple concerto for faculty artists Linda DeLuca (viola), Ka-Wai Yu (cello), Robert Mattheson (double bass), and Glenn Webb (percussion), with the Dixie State Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Paul Abegg. This was a really rewarding collaboration, since I’ve known and worked with Glenn Webb for about 25 years, and Paul Abegg and I were classmates together during our undergraduate studies at BYU. Writing for orchestra, and writing a concerto, let along a quadruple concerto (!) definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone :) but it was a great experience and I like the result. Thanks so much to these great soloists and to Paul and the DSSO for this premiere!

Reconstructing the lost improvisations of aldo pilestri (1683 - 1727)

Guitarist Daniel Lippel is a good friend and an amazing collaborator. When I approached him about writing a sort of “mini-concerto,” he suggested NY-based chamber group counter)induction as the ideal “band” to play with him on such a piece. Commissioned by the Barlow Endowment, Pilestri is the resulting piece and was premiered by Lippel and c)i in March/April 2019 in Pennsylvania and NYC. The audio below presents two excerpts from the piece, recorded during our dress rehearsal for the NYC premiere. A polished, studio recording (at Oktaven in NY) is included on my New Focus Recordings release Assemblage Chamber (fcr328).

After the Storm (2019)

My first piece using the Kyma System for live processing and other electronic effects, After the Storm was written for percussionist Glenn Webb and premiered at KISS 2019, the Kyma International Sound Symposium in Busan, South Korea. The following video excerpt includes the final two sections of the piece from a subsequent performance by Glenn on the UTXtalk concert series in the Madsen Recital Hall at BYU, January 2020.

Ever Ascending (2017-18)

It was great to work with Laurent Durupt and Rémi Durupt—co-founders of Paris-based Ensemble Links and amazing performers and people—on a collaborative piece called Ever Ascending (2017-18) for piano, percussion, video projection, and live and pre-composed electronics, in the BYU Museum of Art on February 23, 2018. Links to video of the three sections of the piece follow, as well as a link to the complete audio recording. It was also nice to collaborate for the first time with visual artist David Chapman Lindsay, who created the video clips that were folded in between the movements of the musical composition. To see the work he created for this performance check out Part 2 of the videos below. We both took our point of departure from the work of M. C. Escher, which was on display in the BYU MOA at the time of this performance.

The pure forces' gravity (2015-16)

The Pure Forces' Gravity was commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University for The Manhattan String Quartet. It was premiered on March 31, 2017, at Colgate University in Hamilton, NY. The following video is from the MSQ's performance at the KentMusic 2017 String Conference at Seattle Pacific University, June 24, 2017.

Medusa in Fragments (2011)

Medusa in Fragments (2011) performance by Keith Kirchoff at the Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts in New Zealand on August 5, 2015. Commissioned by Keith Kirchoff as a part of the Electro-Acoustic Piano project. Scored for piano, video, and electronics. 

This recording of my piece Medusa in Fragments (for solo amplified piano, surround-sound electroacoustic music, and video projection) by pianist Keith Kirchoff was made in the de Jong Concert Hall at BYU and is a preliminary edit of the final version that will ultimately be released along with other piano works. The pre-recorded and processed soprano sounds are provided by Jennifer Welch-Babidge.

geometria situs (2011) 

Live recording of the USA premiere of my piece Geometria Situs (2011), commissioned by Hexnut for their WRENCH project, and a track on my 2015 New Focus Recordings release Young American Inventions. Hexnut presented WRENCH at BYU in the de Jong Concert Hall on September 25, 2013.

High Performance Energy (2013)

An excerpt from the premiere performance of High Performance Energy by Talujon at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music in NY, May 28, 2013. Ian Antonio, Matt Ward, and Matthew Gold on recyclables. David Cossin on drum set.

The infamous "dump" moment from HPE, in the which Matt, Ian, and Matthew dump a bunch of stuff on David to thwart (stop!) his playing...

outskirts of infinity (2008)

Excerpt from my chamber orchestra piece Outskirts of Infinity (2008), written for and performed by the Utah Arts Festival Orchestra, conducted by Andrew Rindfleish, and recorded in Libby Gardner Hall. Inspired by (and in some ways an attempt at a recomposition of) "Voodoo Chile" by Jimi Hendrix.

Mild violence CD preview (2008, Bridge 9256)

A preview of my May 2008 Bridge Records release Mild Violence...some great performances here by Carlton Vickers, Talujon, John Sampen, New York New Music Ensemble, Curtis Macomber, and Dominic Donato. 

dpvscoke (2009)

A track from my 2012 Comprovise Records release Available Resonances--an album that features several electronic improvisations with Radio Shack electret microphones and found objects (like Dr. Pepper cans and Coke bottles).

lectures

Lecture no. 3: The Composer and The Artist. A lecture-as-performance in the BYU Madsen Recital Hall, January 24, 2017. Thanks to the following for their contributions: Luke Howard (intro); Brent Barson (animation and inspiration); Joe Ostraff (video on Memory Lane ["nostalgia"] clip) and help using Adobe Premiere; Christian Asplund (piano on the song "Color and Sound"); Daniel Charon (choreographer of dance clip at the end); various dancers from BYU's Contemporary Dance Theatre. Please enjoy!

Here’s my performance of the old classic, “Color and Sound,” accompanied by Christian Asplund on piano. Lead sheet HERE.

Lecture no. 1: The Composer. My attempt to channel Vonnegut, Lynch, Tim and Eric, and The Museum of Jurassic Technology. I hope you like it.

grenzen der kontrolle (2013)

It was great working with Links Ensemble in Paris on my Barlow-commissioned work, Grenzen der Kontrolle (2013). Here is a recording of the World Premiere, at Église Saint-Merri. A duo version for Laurent and Rémi Durupt (piano and percussion, plus electronics), is forthcoming. To see a perusal score, click HERE.

Sequential Exploration no. 1

While most of my live improvisation, electronic or otherwise, occurs with Christian Asplund in our RICKSPLUND duo, I occasionally do solo performances. Here's an iPhone capture of a performance at UTXtalk (Utah Crosstalk), a concert series started more than 10 years ago by Miguel Chuaqui at the U of Utah and me. The series continues to present electronic works by U of U and BYU faculty and student composers, as well as works from the broad and rich history of electronic music.