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The ballet, based on the story of Susanna as found in the Apocrypha, is scored for chamber orchestra consisting of flute doubling piccolo, oboe, Bb clarinet, bassoon, horn in F, two Bb trumpets, trombone, piano, harp; two percussionists playing timpani, tambourine, xylophone, glockenspiel, chimes, small triangle, large triangle, small suspended cymbal, large suspended cymbal, two crash cymbals, antique cymbals, snare drum, piccolo snare drum, bass drum, bongos, three tom-toms, sleigh bells, large gong, temple blocks, bell tree, metal wind chimes; and a string quintet of two violins, viola, violoncello, and contrabass. The music consists of an overture lasting approximately three and one-half minutes, and three scenes lasting approximately eight and one-half, nine and one-half, and ten minutes respectively. The entire ballet is approximately thirty-one and one-half minutes in duration.

Generations 3.1 is a musical composition for improvisers, chamber orchestra, two-channel audio playback, and video. It is part of the generations series, a collection of works in which newer pieces are made by combining and/or reinterpreting older ones. generations 3.1 uses material from generations 0 (stereo audio), generations 1.1 (audiovisual fixed media), generations 1.2 (chamber orchestra and audio playback), and generations 2.1 (video and improvisers). Formally, generations 3.1 expands the duration of its predecessors by deconstructing their shared timeline, reordering and elongating sections, as well as introducing new interludes. The experimental video of generations 3.1 was created by Timothy David Orme, while the text instructions for the improvisers were greatly influenced by my work with Wombat, an improvisation trio consisting of Justin K. Comer on saxophone, Will Yager on double bass, and myself on electric guitar and electronics. The four layers of the piece (improvisers, chamber orchestra, audio playback, and video) have distinct roles. The audio and the orchestra almost always sound together and complement each other, and they either support or create sections to contrast the improvisers. The improvisers act as soloists, playing alone or over the other musical layers, and respond to the video, observing its mood, energy, and timing. The video works as the main thread through the piece, providing a path interrupted by interludes. Its visual content is set to music by the other three layers. However, all these roles are somewhat flexible during the piece. My main goal with the generations series was to explore the process of writing works derived from older ones, reusing my own music to produce new compositions. Moreover, by collaborating with other artists, the same material can be reinterpreted through different disciplines and perspectives. The name “generations” connects the creative process that happens throughout the series to the idea of humans passing on both genetic and cultural material to their descendants. In generations 3.1, the name specifically references the different ways in which music was generated for the piece: editing electronic sounds, by means of traditional notation, and through improvisation.

Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 155). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of North Texas, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. liv-lv).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, 2003. / Narrators perform the roles of Moses and Apostle John. Duration: 24:00. Includes bibliographical references (p. lxxvi-lxxvii).

Mountain Views for Chamber Orchestra is a three-movement piece that evokes various geographic and aesthetic attributes of the Catalina Mountains in Tucson Arizona. It makes use of musical elements such as time, theme, color/timbre, and texture from the chamber ensemble that are conducive to the evocation of contours, colors, and polyphonies necessary for the images found in the work. "Early Morning Clouds Descending on the Catalinas," the first movement of Mountain Views depicts the picturesque Catalinas as they are often seen in the mild winter mornings of Tucson. The slow introduction conveys the early dawn and the episodic middle section uses ostinato-like repetitions and sudden juxtapositions of block-like figures that depict a hidden and secretive landscape. "Cancion del saguaro," the second movement is much slower than the previous movement and features a more aria-like treatment yet, still with some repetitious accompanimental figures. This movement depicts a lonely cactus within the mountain landscape with chromatic glissandos that imply scale and incline. "Danzas de sombra," the last movement depicts the mountain face at dusk using white-note collections and contrasting black-note collections that depict bright and shadowy sections of the mountain. This movement is more segmented or episodic with the different sections distinguishable not only by their key areas and modes but also registrally and metrically with a greater use of mixed meter and dance-like rhythms in the black-note shadowy sections.

Souvenirs du vent is a composition for soprano and chamber orchestra with a duration of approximately 16'.30". The piece consists of three movements, a prelude, two interludes and a postlude. The poems set in the three movements were chosen for their similar subject matter, the wind. This common subject is emphasized by a music in which both the large-scale and small-scale formal divisions are blurred through structural counterpoint. The poets of the three poems are all from the Montreal area; they are: Emile Nelligan, Claude Brouille and Remi-Paul Forgues.

Tiempos del caos is a composition in five sections for chamber orchestra (28 players) and real-time computer-generated sounds, with a duration of approximately 15 minutes. A performer is required to control the computer-generated sounds which are produced using the software jMax. The inspiration for the form of the piece comes from my reading of the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The harmonic material is derived mainly from analyses of the acoustical properties of recorded instrumental sounds.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Department of Music, August 2001. / For mezzo-soprano and baritone with chamber orchestra. Text excerpted from Under the maud moon (from The book of nightmares) by Galway Kinnell. Includes performance notes. Also available on the Internet.