New consortium opportunity!

The slow section of my bass trombone solo ‘Violent Shadows’ has always been one of my wife Jasmine’s favorite things that I’ve written, so I’ve been wanting to expand these melodies to a more colorful young band setting. Now that I’m on paternity leave and not actively working on a new piece for once, I suddenly had a million thoughts for how I could orchestrate this piece and knew I wanted to take on this project sooner than later. I think that the sophisticated harmonies will sound gorgeous with the colors of a full concert band while giving younger players an opportunity to work on lyrical playing in an exciting context.

Entry Form

Cost: $100 (or discounted $80 if you’ve been a part of one of my previous consortia or commissions!)
Deadline to Join: April 30, 2024
Anticipated Completion: September 1, 2024
Duration: 2’00”-3’00” minutes
Difficulty: Grade 2
Benefits to Consortium Members:

• Names of consortium members included on the title page of the score
• Exclusive performance and recording rights for the 2024-25 school year
• Input on musical material
• Opportunity to work with composer in person or via Zoom/Google Meet

Feel free to email me at cehass11@gmail.com if you have any questions about the project!

I had so much fun working with a great group of saxophonists on the boss battle homage ‘Final Boss’ that I wrote a companion city theme entitled ‘Moonlit Village’, acting as a peaceful haven before that vigorous boss fight . After some reflection, it felt unusual to essentially have a middle and end to this gaming narrative with no clear beginning, so this new piece retroactively concludes this saga through an energetic and inspiring tribute to game’s main title themes.

Looking forward to finishing this video game-inspired suite for saxophone quartet through its intro movement, Adventure Awaits!

Entry Form

Tier Options:

• Bronze Tier ($100, or discounted $75 for members of the Final Boss consortium) – Access to Adventure Awaits PDFs, name and location included on score, input on composition, exclusive performing rights for one year
• Silver Tier ($125) – Same as bronze tier + immediate access to PDFs of Final Boss and Moonlit Village
• Gold Tier ($175) – Same as silver tier + signed score of finished three-movement suite after completion, free zoom clinic with composer scheduled at your convenience

Deadline to Join: April 1, 2024
Anticipated Completion: May 5, 2024
Duration: 3-4 minutes
Difficulty: High School (Grade 4), versions for SATB and AATB quartet

Feel free to email me at cehass11@gmail.com if you have any questions about the project!

I’ve been sitting on this news for a little while, but I’m elated to share that four of my compositions have been added to the MSBOA Basic Music List!!!

For those not in the know, directors are required to pick at least one of these pieces for their performance at band/orchestra festival in the spring, so the BML feels like the ultimate stamp of approval for a composer. It’s been a huge goal of mine to have a single piece added to this list, so I’m overwhelmed that four have been added all at once!

Thank you to all of my friends and colleagues who recommended these pieces for the list – your support means the world to me! I truly hope you and any future ensembles enjoy playing these pieces as much I’ve enjoyed writing them!

My new sax quartet Final Boss is available now!!!

(The perfect stocking stuffer for your favorite saxophonist )

This was just a blast of a piece to write, using my favorite video game soundtracks as the primary inspiration behind the DNA of this fierce and unpredictable tune. It felt like quite the challenge to write for saxophones without relying on my usual millions of notes per minute in increasingly absurd time signatures, but this just made me focus more on refining the comparatively simpler material and prioritizing quality over quantity of ideas. And if nothing else, writing a piece about video games means that the 100+ hours I put into Tears of the Kingdom this year was actually just research, right?

I can’t thank the Assembly Quartet and the wonderful musicians who supported this consortium enough. I’ve received some killer recordings from groups performing the piece over the past year that I’ll be sharing over the course of the week, so be sure to stay tuned!

I can’t express how excited I am to share that I wrote a piece that the Dublin HS Chamber Orchestra will be premiering at this year’s Midwest Clinic!!!

Their director, Elliot Polot, is a good friend of mine from high school, back when we were a couple knucklehead euphonium players in our school’s symphony band. Elliot’s work ethic, dedication, and passion for music has always been something I’ve admired and I knew he was destined for great things from an early age, so it’s heartwarming to see that all of his hard work has paid off with this recognition at one of the premier music conferences. Even more special is that our high school band director David Leach will be the guest conductor for this momentous occasion!

It means the world to me that Elliot asked me to write this new piece for the orchestra’s program at Midwest. If you’re going to be at the conference, the Dublin Chamber Orchestra’s concert begins at 8:30 on Friday, 12/22! The group sounds incredible, so you won’t want to miss this concert!