I keep thinking of a person I work with occasionally (you know who you are).

Every time I see her, she bothers me (in a fun way).

Here's why:

"When are you gonna get back to your newsletter?

What've you been doing?

[So and so] has been asking about you and where your emails went."

Blah blah blah...things like that.

But you know what?

She's right.

And that's why it gets to me:

When am I going to send another letter?

What have I been doing?

Last time I sent a letter was...

(cry with me)...April 24th of 2024.

I honestly had no idea it had been that long.

Do you know how much shit has happened since then???

Like a lot (mostly good things).

For instance:

One of the last BIG things I told you all about was that I was being commissioned by Timothy McAllister to write an encore for Soprano Saxophone and Piano for his upcoming Project Encore Vol. 2 album.

Well, the album came out two months ago, and I'm grateful that my piece, "Vicariously Through You", has been very well received, especially with university students studying to become master saxophonists like the GOAT that is Timothy McAllister.

The album also features BIG time composers such as Wynton Marsalis, Jennifer Higdon, Catherine Likhuta, and more.

It's been a fulfilling experience.

I'm honored to be on the same album with such notable composers I respect and admire, and I hope to be in their shoes one day.

​You can listen to the album here (available on all streaming services and Bandcamp as well). Let me know whatcha think!

Oh, one more thing: The album is also up for Grammy consideration!! Would appreciate the support!

Other things to catch you up to speed:

• Before Timothy McAllister commissioned me for the encore, he premiered another piece of mine for alto saxophone and horn. I also vlogged about the experience of traveling to see the premiere with my wife here. It's a fun ride if you want to see another side of me, and I'm sharing it here because I plan to do more of these with my channel in the future (people seem to like them!)

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• ​I finished my website what seems to be ages ago now.

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• I've had two truly meaningful premieres:
  • The first by the Flannau Duo, having premiered a piece I wrote during undergrad, a fantasy juggernaut of a work for piano and one percussionist called Pocketbook.
  • The second premiere was Sonder & Ozurie (sketch for Chamber Orchestra), written for and commissioned by the Chicago Composers Orchestra (CCO). This is my first larger ensemble work. For those of you who know me, I've ALWAYS wanted to write for larger ensembles, so this was a HUGE deal for me. So, I went on a marketing SPREE: Countless reels, a breakdown video, tons of posts to my story. I invited people I hadn't spoken to in years. I invited strangers. I sent follow-up messages. The only thing I didn't do is reopen this newsletter and tell you all (which is surprising now that I think of it). And what were the fruits of my marketing labor?? Worth it. CCO had what we think is their biggest turnout ever. Not saying it was all me, but I damn sure had plenty of people out! Not only was I ridiculously excited for the premiere, feeling one step closer to my dreams, but the piece itself is perhaps my best work. I'm in love with how it turned out and it cuts deep for me. Subject matter. Melody. My basic use of tonal harmony. It was awesome.

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• I've scored several short films and have more lined up (concert commissions as well), including something BIG that I'm not going to announce just yet...

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Those are the highlights.

There's been other lovely changes in my personal life and music life as well, but nothing grand. And, like any human, I've had a fair share of mishaps and mistakes, but I'm still here!

Still dreaming big, shooting for upward and onward baby.

One thing I do want to mention, however, is that I pretty much stopped writing (words, not music), and I'd say some things are definitely worse since doing that.

I don't think or speak as clearly.

Mentally I've been a little weak and super distracted.

I've fallen a little out of touch with who I am and what I stand for.

And while I'm grateful my composing career remains unaffected and continues to grow, I wonder where I'd be had I kept it up blogging on Medium, posting more consistently (a necessity to build my brand), and communicating with you all.

Perhaps you can make the argument that I'd only be more distracted with more on my plate.

It was nice, after all, to focus solely on writing music, but I'm not sure it's better to be without writing period.

I missed a part of who I am.

I found myself to "perking up" when I had to write program notes for crying out loud.

I forgot I loved it.

So, I want to get back to that.

Starting with this newsletter.

Boy, haven't I missed you all!

Another disappointment in my time away is that, last email, I told you all there would be some rebranding (you've probably noticed this email looks quite different from my past ones).

Although this one is lengthy, and I have some updating to do on how this will look, I want this email series to be more akin to a regular newsletter with updates and such on my music.

I want to focus on that, but I will still provide value hopefully through talking about the process, things I've learned, etc.

Either way, my last email a year ago stated that I would be implementing these changes, and what did I do?

Stopped sending emails completely.

I let the hassle of rebranding things from "The Imaginator Conglomerate" (which, we still all are a part of right??) to just "me" halt all progress.

For a year.

So, I want to apologize.

If suddenly you're seeing an email from me and thinking, "I'm still subscribed to this?????" and no longer want to be here, I completely understand (crying right now actually over how much I don't understand).

I'll end with this (QUICK ANNOUNCEMENT/WHAT'S NEXT:

So, the first quick announcement is that I had a premiere on the 3rd and 4th as part of this year's Ear Taxi Music Festival in Chicago (I know I know, I should've told you).

But I also have one on the 16th that I'm particularly excited about.

See you there?

Instead of making this email even longer, you can read this post here on my website that explains everything (including links to the event details.

And if you've made it this far, please reply and say "hi". I missed you!!!!!

P.S. Again, sorry for the basic look/template of this email. I didn't want the formatting for the "rebrand" to stall me from getting something out to you promptly. Next email will look prettier.