Premier of Watch! Take Care!

The first performance of my composition Watch! Take Care! Your Hearts Prepare! will take place during Mass on the Fourth Sunday of Advent at the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe. The Basilica Choir under the direction of William Picher will sing the piece at both the 9:30 and 11:30am Masses. The piece is a setting of a text by John Dalles for unaccompanied SATB choir.

Rondo Fanfare

Composed in October 2013 for the Sovereign Brass Union, this 3-minute fanfare is for 10-piece brass ensemble and organ it was premiered in concert at the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe on November 3 at the Power and Glory of Brass Concert. The audio below was generated with the Finale music notation program.

1. Listen now     

Basilica Choir Christmas CD

BasilicaChristmasCDSquareThe CD is here! Order yours now for delivery before Christmas!

The Basilica Choir sings Christmas favorites and new carols on their newest CD on Stemik records including God, We Would Hear the Angels Sing.
Now available on iTunes as well.

The complete list of music follows:

  1. Joy to the World (Isaac Watts/Lowell Mason, after Handel, arr. William Picher)
  2. Hodie Christus Natus Est (Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina)
  3. Joseph Lieber, Joseph Mine (Michael Praetorius)
  4. It Came Upon the Midnight Clear (Edmund Sears/R.S. Willis, arr. William Picher)
  5. Blessed Be That Maid Marie (Trad. English 17th C., arr. Charles Wood)
  6. Rejoice in the Lord Always (Anon 16th C.)
  7. Gaudete (Anon. 16th c, arr. Brian Kay)
  8. God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen (Trad. English, 17th C., arr. William Picher)
  9. O Magnum Mysterium (Tomas Luis de Victoria)
  10. Ave Maris Stella (Trad. Russian, arr. Pavel Chesnokov, adapt. William Picher)
    Morris Hudson, guest baritone soloist
  11. Ding Dong Merrily on High (G.R. Woodward, arr. Carolyn Jennings)
  12. Es ist ein Ros (Michael Praetorius)
  13. God, We Would Hear the Angels Sing (John A. Dalles/Wm. Glenn Osborne)
  14. What Child is This (Trad. English, arr. John Stainer)
  15. The Boar

Fanfare on ‘National Hymn’

BNSMQU Michael Face
On Sunday, September 29, a new statue of St. Michael will be dedicated at the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe. Discovering that there would be an additional procession of banners, music director Bill Picher asked if I would make a short fanfare arrangement of the tune “National Hymn’ to provide music for the extra procession. With only a few days to complete the project, I got to work as quick as I could.

Here’s a video from a rehearsal at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen:


Cantate Domino

Written by request for the choral concert given on May 22, 2011 by William Picher and the Basilica Choir with friends. The choral group for the day contained 16 singers, and Bill was looking for a 16-voice piece. I sat with this request for quite a while before finally settling on this text and the general style of the piece. Most of the piece is written for 8-part choir, but the middle section is a 16 part fugue. The recording below was made at the dress rehearsal prior to the concert.

1. Listen now     

Psalm 96: 1-3
Cantate Domino canticum novum:
Cantate Domino omnis terra.
Cantate Domino, benedicite nomini eius:
Adnuntiate diem de die salutare eius.

Purchase of the PDF download includes permission to reprint copies as necessary for performance.

A Cappella Magic

This recording by the Basilica Choir and William Picher includes my composition Salve Regina. The piece was written specifically for them, and I was delighted that they chose to include it on their recording.

The CD is available for sale for $15 plus shipping and handling. It is also available at iTunes for immediate download here. This is the complete track list:

  1. Haec Dies (William Byrd)
  2. O Bone Jesu (Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina)
  3. Verbum Caro Factus Est (Hans Leo Hassler)
  4. Alma Redemptoris Mater (Palestrina)
  5. Regina Caeli Laetare (Antonio Lotti)
  6. Riu, Riu, Chiu (Anon. Spanish)
  7. Exsultate Deo (Palestrina)
  8. I See His Blood Upon the Rose (Michael Bedford)
  9. At the Cross Her Station Keeping (13th cent., arr. Richard Proulx)
  10. Were You There? (Spiritual, arr. Harry T. Burleigh)
  11. Gabriel’s Message (Basque Carol, arr. Jonathan Rathbone)
  12. Ave Maria (Marshall Webb)
  13. Set Me As a Seal (René Clausen)
  14. Tota Pulchra Es (Maurice Duruflé)
  15. Hail Mary (William Picher)
  16. Hail Holy Queen (Salve Regina, arr. Derric Johnson)
  17. I Saw Three Ships (English Carol, arr. Marshall Webb)
  18. Salve Regina
  19. Deep River (Spiritual, arr. Norman Luboff)
  20. Ain’t-a that Good News (Spiritual, arr. William Dawson)