I'm very proud of my composition student, Caleb Adams, who made a very successful presentation of his multi-media work, War Over Hill, at the Student Snapshot Conference for the Society of Composers (SCI,) held at Otterbein University. Caleb and fellow student Westley Teng from Heidelberg had the opportunity to interact with other student composers from Ohio, Otterbein, Ohio State and Cedarville Universities. Caleb also presented another recent composition of his at a compose

Saturday, October 22nd was a highly significant day for one of my dearest friends, Jodi Nicholson Keith, who was accepted into the Lutheran Church of American (ELCA) as an ordained minister. She has accepted a call to serve the congregation of St. Peter Lutheran Church, in Trenton Ohio. For this special occasion, I composed a new anthem, O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing, one of Jodi’s favorite hymns. The piece uses a theme and variations approach in presenting selected stanz

The project started out so simply. I read a brief and humorous poem, by my good friend and colleague, Dr. William Reyer. Part of it is quoted below: “I’m a little black lizard I live by the lake. In the hot summer sun On a pine stump, I bake. I will eat a brown cricket For my mid-day meal Or if I am lucky, A fat, juicy snail……” Over the years, I have enjoyed reading Bill’s poetry very much. His subject matter touches on a number of of wonderful topics, both personal and univ