Bestiary Lore – Clockworks (2026), for percussion duo, was composed for Matt Andreini. Drawing from fantasy literature and tabletop role-playing games, a bestiary serves as a compendium of creatures, cataloging their attributes, statistics, behaviors, and lore as part of a larger world.
This work takes inspiration from clockwork constructs—mechanical beings animated through a fusion of magic and intricate engineering, their motion driven by the constant turning of gears, springs, and internal mechanisms. The three movements—the cycle is life, processing stimuli, and hivemind sync—trace a progression from continuous mechanical motion, through the intake and transformation of information, toward a state of coordinated, collective function.
Reflecting this, the music is built from systems of permutation, incrementing structures, symmetry, and interlocking rhythmic cycles. Techniques such as isorhythm, interference patterns, and looping processes shape a sound world in which materials evolve through repetition and variation, echoing the precise yet uncanny motion of clockwork life.
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Bestiary Lore II – Changeling (2026) is the second work in a series of duo compositions with percussion inspired by bestiary lore. The piece exists in multiple versions for different instrumental pairings, including bassoon+percussion, bass clarinet+percussion, baritone saxophone+percussion, and trombone+percussion. Drawing from fantasy literature and tabletop role-playing games, a bestiary serves as a compendium of creatures, cataloging their attributes, statistics, behaviors, and lore as part of a larger world.
This work takes inspiration from changelings—shapeshifters capable of altering their appearance and adopting new identities at will. Their fluid sense of self, coupled with a natural charisma, allows them to move seamlessly between roles, often operating in secrecy or within small, tightly coordinated groups. Across three movements—what is identity, shady dealings, and leading with charisma—the music explores transformation, instability, and the construction of persona.
Reflecting this, musical materials shift, overlap, and recontextualize themselves, blurring the boundaries between distinct ideas. Quick turns, sly gestures, and groove-driven passages give the music a flexible, shape-shifting character.
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Bestiary Lore III – Griffon (2026), for trumpet and percussion, was composed for Scott Hagarty. It is the third work in a series of duo compositions with percussion inspired by bestiary lore. Drawing from fantasy literature and tabletop role-playing games, a bestiary serves as a compendium of creatures, cataloging their attributes, statistics, behaviors, and lore as part of a larger world.
This work takes inspiration from the griffon—a powerful aerial predator combining the body of a lion with the head and wings of an eagle. Long associated with symbols of authority and nobility, the griffon is, in practice, a calculating hunter, fiercely territorial and deeply loyal to its mate and kin. Across five movements—aerial dominion, circling, the hunt, bound by loyalty, and the aerie—the music traces a progression from suspended observation to sudden action, and from bond to place.
Reflecting this, musical materials shift between spacious, elevated textures and tightly coordinated, impact-driven gestures. Repetition, variation, and abrupt transformation shape a sound world that moves between distance and immediacy, echoing the griffon’s dual nature as both mythic symbol and living predator.