SOLO GUITAR
In the Abstract: Eight Sketches on Norman Lewis (2024) - 8:00
For Guitar Solo and Guitar Quartet
Commissioned by Ex-Aequo for their 2nd Emerging Artist Initiative, with support from the Augustine Foundation.
Eight movements (4 solos, 4 quartets), each inspired by a painting from the Abstract Expressionist, Norman Lewis.
Premiered live at Austin Classical Guitar’s Rosette venue in August 2024, with a video recording premiere by Drew Henderson in November 2024.
Score coming soon. Images courtesy of the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery in NYC.
Into the Light (2023) (3:30) - For solo guitar
Available at Productions D’oz.
Inspired by the Old Testament’s Book of Micah.
An atmospheric piece, rich in harmonics and with flashes of virtuosity.
Commissioned by the Guitar Foundation of America
for teenage virtuoso Micah Montgomery to premiere at the June 2023
Guitar Foundation of America Convention in NYC.
Published by Productions d’Oz.
Poor Mourner’s Got a Home at Last (2024) (4:00) - For Solo Guitar
Commissioned by Cleveland Classical Guitar Society for Jorge Caballero.
Premiered by Jorge Caballero at Cleveland Classical Guitar Society on October 26th, 2024.
Based on an African-American spiritual.
Difficulty: Advanced
Score coming soon.
Nocturne For People Who Can’t Sleep (2022) (5:00)
Set piece for the 2022 Yale School of Music Guitar Department auditions.
Written for, and premiered by Benjamin Verdery.
Difficulty: Advanced
Based on an untitled excerpt from the Book of Hours by the Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke, the piece is structured in hours of a night of insomnia. It begins at midnight, and progresses hour by hour until 6:00 A.M. The outer sections are slow and brooding and desperate, while the middle section is racing with anxiety and sometimes furious. The piece concludes with time slowly stretching apart as we either drift off to sleep, or feel the divine presence of God granting us rest, or both.
Nail-Biter (2024) (3:30)
Nail-Biter begins at 11:17
Commissioned as the set piece for the 2024 5th annual James Stroud Classical Guitar Competition at the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Difficulty: Advanced
Nail-Biter is inspired by the mutual love that James Stroud and I have for the American mountains, having both spent substantial time in Glacier National Park. The piece uses a rondo form with a recurring bluegrass/blues theme, as well as open-string arpeggios that evoke the free-flowing style of banjo music from the Appalachian mountain region.
Video Premiere by Laurel Harned. Nail-Biter begins at 11:17
14 Études on the Music of Black Americans (2021) (25:00)
Commissioned by Cleveland Classical Guitar Society
Premiered in its entirety on Juneteenth 2022 in Cleveland’s Dunham Tavern Museum by numerous students and Thomas Flippin.
Difficulty: Beginner-Intermediate-Advanced
Duration: ~25 minutes.
Includes a lengthy introduction about the melodies chosen from collections of African-American spirituals and how this project is contextualized in American history so that students of all ages and races can benefit.
Broken into three sections of increasing skill level, the etudes take students from the beginning level of simple melodies similar to suzuki book 1, all the way through advanced repertoire. The first two beginner works are also expanded into optional trios so that beginners can play together from an early phase. Many works also include a simplified version and a more complex version so that teachers can assign the appropriate version to each individual student. All the etudes were built upon melodies created by enslaved or recently emancipated African-Americans.
“As should be clear by now, I find these 14 études deeply moving. The significance of the original melo-
dies combined with the composer’s sympathetic treatment makes this collection a worthy achievement.
It’s a rare privilege to newly encounter a future cornerstone of the guitar repertoire. So I encourage you
to get in on the ground floor. Maybe this will inspire you to add your own voice to what I trust will become a rich performance tradition.”
Read Tom Poore’s essay on the etudes here.
Full Playlist of all 14 Etudes. Sung in their original form by Damian Goggins, then performed on guitar, then discussed in their historical context.
All 14 Etudes (including trios) performed in order by guitar scholar, Tom Poore.
Not One Shall Leave: Prelude & Allegro (2021) (5:00)
For Solo Guitar. Based on text from Hindu scripture.
Written for and premiered by Ex-Aequo (Phil Goldenberg).
Difficulty: Advanced
Scenes from America (2012) - 7:00
Depicting the transition from childhood to adulthood across three American scenes.
Difficulty: Advanced
I. Salt Creek, CA; II. Chicago, IL; III. New York Minute.
Listen on Flippin’s album: Something New
Premiered in part by Kenji Haba for the Vox Novus series in NYC, 2011.
Premiered in full at the St Louis Botanical Gardens Theater. 2011.
Published in part by Soundboard of the Guitar Foundation of America.
Digital PDF Download
American Soul (2021) (4:00)
American Soul. ~$8.00.
Published by Production’s d’Oz.
Available Here.
For solo guitar. A fun showpiece based on various
American musical traditions.
Written for the Guitar Foundation of America’s mentorship program for mentee Matthew Briel.
Difficulty: Advanced
Published by Productions d’Oz in Canada.
Score available either individually or as part
of the Guitar Foundation of America “Spotlight Collection.”
Endless Loop, Endless Days (2020) (5:00) - For Theorbo or (classical guitar) and Loop Pedal.
Written for the Yale University Postcards from Confinement Project.
Documenting artists’ responses to the Covid-19 quarantine. Featuring improvisation, delay pedal, and loop pedal.
Improvisation 2
Improvisation 1
Neverland (2008) - 8:00
A musical narrative based on a dream.
Difficulty: Advanced
I. Summons; II. Feast; III. Game
Listen on Flippin’s album: Something New
Premiered in part by Dr. Julie Goldberg, Vandercook College of Music, Chicago 2007.
Premiered in full at Yale University, 2008. Originally published by Clear Note Publications.
Digital PDF Download
Hear it on Flippin’s album Something New
A Soldier's Sonata (2007 rev. 2020) - 9:00
Depicting the psyche of a soldier in conflict.
I. Onset; II. Vespers; III. Jericho
Difficulty: Advanced
Listen to the old version on Flippin’s album: Something New.
Based on my relationships with Bosnian musicians Denis Azabagic and Vesna Mehinovic.
Premiered in full at the Norfolk Music Festival, 2007.
First movement is optional.
Digital PDF Download
Study No. 1 - Witch Dance 1a. & 1b. (2010)
Difficulty: Beginner/Intermediate
A guitar study in two versions: One for advanced beginners and one with more harmony and complexity for intermediate players. Featuring a mysterious chromatic melody and a repeated 6/8 bass line with mostly open strings to develop the thumb, some simple shifts, free stroke and rest stroke opportunities. The intermediate version adds harmonies under the melody, and inner voice lines. A simple, musical, fun and short piece.