It was a great joy to perform Chris Brubeck’s Confluence: Double Concerto for Classical and Blues Guitars for the third time last weekend with the amazing musicians of the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, alongside electric guitarist D.J. Sparr and conductor Robert Moody, with Chris Brubeck in attendance. The piece fuses an incredible range of guitar music (e.g. funk, blues, classical, jazz) in truly original and captivating ways. The audience response is always incredible and it is a great pleasure to have the classical guitar successfully partner with orchestra in such a compelling way (and in a piece that isn’t the Aranjuez and which speaks to our time and American sound world). I am immensely grateful to have been able to dwell in this music again.

Grateful to Ex-Aequo Artists for inviting me to compose the music for their 2nd Emerging Artists Initiative. It's an honor to follow Sergio Assad's composition from last year, and I will always cherish this piece. These four incredible young musicians each took the music I gave them and turned it into something beautiful. 4 Solos and 4 quartets, each based on an abstract painting by the brilliant Norman Lewis.

Thanks to the Augustine Foundation, Drew J. Henderson, Austin Classical Guitar and especially the Ex-Aequo team for imagining a vibrant future for all of us guitarists.

Virtuoso teen guitarist Micah Montgomery gave the premiere of Flippin’s Into the Light at the Guitar Foundation of America Convention in NYC. He also made a video recording that was just released. The piece is based on excerpts from the Bible’s “Book of Micah.”

Post concert with Ben Verdery, Franco Platino (soloist) and Manuel Barrueco.

Last week at @peabodyinstitute’s 15th FretFest was pretty special for me, and I am profoundly grateful for the experience. A massive thanks to Zoe Johnstone Stewart and Risa Carlson for going on a rollercoaster journey with me to premiere my new piece, Childhood, and for being incredible artists and thoughtful leaders. Deep thanks also to the Peabody guitar faculty/students who brought true mastery to a crazy difficult composition in short order (Franco Platino was mesmerizing!).

Julian Dutra Aniceto conducting Peabody guitar faculty, the Barrueco Guitar Studio, and Preparatory students at the premiere of “Childhood.”

A VERY special thanks to the incomparable Manuel Barrueco for coaching his students on the piece and to Juliano Dutra Aniceto for his wonderful conducting and kindred and generous musical spirit. Everyone showed exactly why Peabody is amongst the best music institutions in the world. Getting to share in the event with the immense artistry of my forever-teacher Benjamin Verdery is something I’ll always treasure. Finally, thanks to Augustine Strings foundation for supporting the guitar community in such a meaningful way.

American Soul is inspired by a variety of musical traditions from the United States, including: Songs of enslaved Black Americans (e.g. Juba), the Blues, D.J. record-scratching from the hip-hop and electronic music traditions, bluegrass banjo playing, Rock and Roll, California punk rock palm-muting, steel string finger-style virtuosity, jazz harmonic concepts, Funk guitar strumming, and American Minimal classical music loops.

The piece celebrates the rich musical innovations of the United States of America, while also hinting at the underlying turmoil within American society as these musical styles and innovations were developed.

Music available at: Les Productions d'Oz

Commissioned by the Guitar Foundation of America for Matthew Briehl

This weekend (4/22/2023) marks the 1st weekend that I can officially put a horrible trauma behind me. Back in early August 2022 I was in the worst car accident of my life. Someone ran a stop sign and T-Boned me into a full 360 roll. The airbag made me 100% deaf in one ear for several minutes and I got sent to the ER. It’s been a long and difficult journey, wreaking havoc on every aspect of my life and taking over 400 hours to deal with the aftermath. But, thanks be to God, I have finally made it through the other side. Life is a precious gift, and I am GRATEFUL that I get to keep living it and making music with my fellow humans. Amen. #carcrash #lifeisbeautiful

I’ve been selected to compose a string quartet for a new joint commissioning venture between Juilliard, the New York Philharmonic, and the American Composers Forum. It is a great honor and I am thrilled to be a part of the inaugural group of composers. Learn more here.

In one of the unforgettable milestones of my career, Duo Noire received an enthusiastic standing ovation at the world’s most renowned classical guitar festival. The whole week was an absolute joy and the convention is run by some brilliant and kind people. I was able to see a lot of phenomenal playing and got to judge the international concert artist competition. I’m still beaming from the social outings with colleagues after such awful years of the pandemic.

A meditation on insomnia based on a despairing poem by the Austrian writer Rainer Maria Rilke. Written for Benjamin Verdery and used as the 2022 audition set piece for the Yale School of Music Guitar Department.

One of the most intense projects I’ve ever done, this 25 minute collection is based on 14 of over 500 melodies I studied in order to choose the best material for guitar compositions. The collection spans the full range of beginner (akin to Suzuki book 1) to advanced (akin to Villa-Lobos preludes) and every piece is based on melodies from enslaved or recently emancipated African-Americans. Commissioned by Cleveland Classical Guitar Society, these works feature trio ensemble versions of the simplest solo pieces, as well as both simplified and advanced versions of many etudes so that teachers can choose the appropriate level for their students.