Music of the 20th century can be characterized at best as eclectic and at worst, fragmented. There is no one common musical language all composers use. Lack of rigidity and rules and the wide array of choices cause many composers to forget about the listener, the audience. I compose so I can express for others those things they can not say for themselves. As a 21st-century composer, my focus is on the audience. I consider first who I am writing for, who will hear me, and why should they continue to listen.

In my work, I want to create music that is intellectually and emotionally satisfying and accessible to people who never studied music as well as those who did.
I explore music composition in the following ways:

• Juxtapose a tonal, lyric melody and an untraditional, unexpected harmony.
• Use predictable harmony and melody to emphasize an idea or entice the audience.
• Identify a structure for each piece so the audience can follow the musical thought from beginning to end.
• Show off the performer’s skills in orthodox and untried ways. Both performers and audience delight in technique if it enhances the musical experience.
• Magnify and express human experience through music.

My music avoids the academic, experimental, or atonal and embraces the expressive and melodic.

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