Lots of Updates!

So much to update on this blog post and website!

First thing is first, I am now a married man! My wife and I tied the knot back in early November and we couldn't be happier! She just started a new job, I have tenure at mine, we had a successful marching band season (which we decided to plan a wedding during), I performed at Midwest and realized a dream, and now things are finally dying down.

It's been a rollercoaster and you can see, but it's been one hell of a ride! Marching Band went incredibly well this year. We grew in size and the kids are marching better than ever before. We placed 1st and swept our division at one competition and placed 2nd at our other two. If that's not enough, we decided to get married in the middle of all that!

The wedding was absolutely beautiful and we loved every minute of it! I arranged all the music for the ceremony for brass quintet - 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, and organ - and my sister in law sang. It was a beautiful ceremony and a great reception followed with a killer band!

Just last week my wife and I went to the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Conference out in Chicago for the first time. We went because I started playing with the Eastern Wind Symphony and they were 1 of 2 professional community band chosen to perform. It was a lot of work getting ready for this performance. I play baritone saxophone with the group and I had solos on two pieces. One by a favorite composer of mine Steven Bryant. I got to meet and chat with Steven while out there and he is an incredibly nice guy! He gave me amazing advice on composing which was incredible. Steven, if you ever read this, thanks again!

Now that all that had subsided, things are dying down going into winter break. I'm planning on finishing up this commission for Oboe/English Horn which is set to be premiered in March, and have another possible commission in the works. There are a lot of big things happening. 2016 is gearing up to be a big year so stay tuned!