Speaking engagements

It’s probably obvious - but I love talking about music composition, music theory, and music history. I’d love to talk to your class or ensemble about one of these topics. I’ve got my current presentations listed below - they rotate from time to time. I do tend to prefer speaking in person, but thanks to geographic limitations - I’m more than happy to schedule a Zoom meeting with you as well. These presentations can be customized to fit in a class period time (usually 50 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes) - and are meant for either High School or University students. If you see one you’d like - get in touch with me via the form below for rates/scheduling.

Note: If you have commissioned a piece from me, and we’ve scheduled a residency, that will include one of these presentations as well.

composition lectures

Composing Using Orbital Resonance (Percussion Quartet: Trappist-1)
For centuries, scientists, mathematicians, and musicians have been obsessed with finding a numeric pattern in the orbits of the planets. Musically, the ratios of planetary motion would correlate to the ratios of just intonation. While our solar system doesn’t exhibit this kind of orbital resonance, there is a star system 29 lightyears from earth whose 7 planets’ ratios would create a maj9 chord. This presentation looks at the world of musical possibilities of this “musical” star system - and a deep dive into my first Percussion Quartet.

Analyzing Motifs Like A Composer
When we are taught to analyze music, we often are taught from the perspective of a music theorist: “this motif is three eighths and a half note, and it is a descending 3rd.” But what could we say about a motif if we took all music theory terminology away from its description. Now, we are looking at motifs like a composer. In this interactive presentation, we’ll take a look at a variety of famous motifs, and dissect them without using music theory. 

The Composition Process
The process for creating a new piece of music can seem very daunting…and I’ll be honest, it can still be daunting for me, even after all these years. But, over the course of my compositional journey, I’ve developed a process that greatly helps me keep everything organized - whether I’m writing a 1 minute piece for one instrument, or an hour long piece for 60 instruments. This presentation will take a deep dive into my personal creative process, and will examine take a look at how I deal with things like writer’s block, or being a composer with ADHD. We’ll also look at some exercises that I use to help me generate ideas, or get out of a rut.

Microtonal Diatonicism 
The pitch drift inherent in Just Intonation is often listed as one of its flaws. In this presentation, we’ll look at how this feature of Just Intonation can be used to open up an entirely new sonic landscape all while staying within the confines of the diatonic collection - which I am calling Microtonal Diatonicism. We’ll also look at alternative tuning systems to Equal Temperament, and how composers in the last 100 years have used these systems.

Music Theory and Music Analysis lectures

Using the Right Tools (The Music Theory Toolbox)
Music theory is often presented as being just one system that can explain the entirety of music, leading to unnecessary confusion and frustration in music theory students. But in fact, music theory is very multifaceted, and we must use the correct analytical tools in order to properly understand the music we’re studying. In this presentation, we’ll talk about all of these things, and even look at what happens when we use the wrong tools.

What Is The Harmonic Series And How Can We Use It?
Musical notes are not made up of one single pitch, but are actually a complex wave of thousands of pitches - known as overtones or harmonics. In this presentation, we’re looking at the harmonic series in a number of different ways. The science behind musical tones, why it matters for performing musicians, and how composers can effectively take advantage of its properties. 

The Score Study Field Guide
I’ve been to six years of music school, and in that time I studied a lot of scores. However, there wasn’t really ever a time when I was taught specifically how to study a score. Most of the time we looked at a piece, and the professor showed us exactly what we were looking at and where. So, I examined my analytical process that I’ve used as a music theorist for the last decade and I developed a step-by-step process to help musicians analyze music on their own, outside of the music classroom. Your students will also receive a copy of the resource this presentation is based on (The Score Study Field Guide).

Music history presentations

A Music History Study Guide
Music history is quite a bit more than just “Beethoven lived from 1770-1827 and wrote 9 symphonies.” That’s because music doesn’t exist in a vacuum apart from its time, its people, and its culture. Music has been a part of most every culture in human history, going back so far we don’t even have a record of its invention. In this presentation, we’ll look at my personal study guide as I research music history. We’ll look at who was making music, what events impacted music. We’ll look at research methods, and how to find sources and scores. Most of all, we’ll look at how vast and fascinating is the ocean of world music history.