My goal as a composer is to write interesting, stimulating and engaging music that will both challenge and reward the listener. I write in the classical tradition, with an eclectic mix of stylistic influences, including modern classical (“new music”), serial, renaissance, baroque, jazz, folk, and other influences.
I compose part time (mostly evenings and weekends), as my current full time job is as a professor of biostatistics. My original plan in life was to be a professional composer, but then I discovered that I enjoyed mathematics and science to a similar degree, and throughout my life have alternated between and juggled both interests in one way or another. I have a B.M. in Music Composition from Brigham Young University (1988) and an M.M. in Music Composition from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1999).
In February, 2024, I completed “Prelude 2” for piano (score and MIDI rendition). The total duration is 3.5 minutes.
In January, 2024, I completed “Just a Moment” for symphony orchestra (score and MIDI rendition). The total duration is 1.75 minutes.
In December, 2023, I completed “Toccata and Fugue” for symphony orchestra (score and MIDI rendition). The total duration is 24.5 minutes.
In November, 2022, I completed “Interlude” for string orchestra (score and MIDI rendition). The total duration is 15 minutes.
In August, 2022, I completed “Diverging Confluences” for woodwind quintet, consisting of three movements: Movement 1 (Allegro, 6 minutes duration) (score and MIDI rendition), Movement 2 (Adagio, 5 minutes duration) (score and MIDI rendition), and Movement 3 (Presto, 4 minutes duration) (score and MIDI rendition). The total duration is 15 minutes.
In March, 2022, I completed “Irregular Congruencies” for violin and piano. The duration is about 12 minutes. The score is here, and a MIDI rendition is here.
In August, 2021, I completed “Caprice Oblique” for wind ensemble (piccolo, 2 flutes, oboe, bassoon, 3 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 alto saxaphones, tenor saxaphone, baritone saxaphone, 3 trumpets, 4 horns, 2 trombones, bass trombone, euphonium, tuba, timpani, snare drum, bass drum, large triangle, and tubular bells). The total duration is about 5 minutes. The score is here, and a MIDI rendition is here.
In May, 2021, I completed a song cycle for soprano and piano, “Seven Songs on the Meaning of Things”. The lyrics for the seven songs come from poetry our family (Jessica Biggs, Matthew Biggs, Jeanette Kosorok, Pamela Kosorok, and me) wrote during various poetry slams over several years. The total duration is about 13 minutes. The score is here, and a MIDI rendition is here. Since it is a MIDI rendition, the voice consists of “ah” sounds rather than sung words.
In January, 2021, I completed a religious themed children’s song for voice plus descant with piano, “Women of Faith”, with words by Matthew B. Biggs. The total duration is 3.5 minutes. The score is here, and a YouTube video of the song is here. Recording credits: Voices: Jessica Biggs, Matthew Biggs and Pamela Kosorok; Piano: Bradley Layton; Sound engineer: Donovan Dorrance; Logistics: Jeanette Kosorok and Michael Kosorok. Art in the video is from The Divine Feminine in LDS Art & Theology Exhibition at the Center Gallery in New York City in 2022.
In November, 2020, I completed my first symphony, “Vestige Symphony: 2020 In Memoriam” for symphony orchestra, consisting of four movements: Movement 1 (Remnants) (score and MIDI rendition), Movement 2 (Lamentation) (score and MIDI rendition), Movement 3 (Danse Macabre) (score and MIDI rendition), and Movement 4 (Synthesis) (score and MIDI rendition). The total duration is about 38 minutes. A key goal of this symphony is to express the tragedies, hopes, fears, craziness, loss and resilience which the world experienced during 2020.
In October, 2019, I completed a composition for choir (SATB) and piano, “A Great Light”, with lyrics by Calvin D. Olsen which are adapted from passages in the books of Isaiah and Revelations. The total duration is about 11 minutes. The score is here, and a MIDI rendition is here. Since it is a MIDI rendition, the voices consist of “ah” sounds instead of words. In December, 2019, I completed a version of “A Great Light” for choir (SATB) and symphony orchestra. The score is here, and a recording of a MIDI rendition is here.
In January, 2017, I completed a piano piece “Recursive Pursuit”. The score is here, and a live piano recording performed in 2019 by Mat Eisenstein is here. The total duration is about 6 minutes.
On December 4, 2007, “A Singular Continuity” for orchestra (about 4 minutes duration) was premiered by the Chapel Hill High School Orchestra under the direction of Barbara Bridges Smith at the Hanes Auditorium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
In spring 2000, my “Elliptical Ascent” (11.5 minutes duration) was premiered by the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble in Music Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: the scoring was for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, french horn, trumpet, trombone, percussion, piano, two violins, viola, cello, and double bass.
My “Instant Motion” (2 minutes duration) and “February Refractions” (8 minutes duration) for flute, cello, and piano were both performed spring 1999 in Morphy Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music. My “Interactions for Violin and Piano” (about 4.5 minutes duration) was composed in summer 1996 and premiered spring 1997 by Steve Kadlecek on violin and Jeffrey Gibbens on piano in the Morphy Recital Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: the score his here and recording here. My “Mechanizations” for piano (4 movements, 10 minutes duration) was performed fall 1995.
From fall 1987 through spring 1988, during my final year as an undergraduate student, I was the composer in residence for the Brigham Young University Percussion Ensemble. During that time, I composed “Rondo” for six percussionists plus piano (10 minutes duration). This ensemble premiered the work in spring of 1988 in the Madsen Recital Hall in the Harris Fine Arts Center at Brigham Young University.
I composed numerous other works as an undergraduate student, including several art songs and piano pieces which are among my personal favorites. The score for “Contemplation in March” for soprano and piano (composed in 1985) is here and the recording here. The score for “Silent Forest” for tenor and piano (composed in 1980) is here and the recording here. The score for “And Out of Chaos Came the Dancing Rose” for piano (composed in 1980) is here and the recording here.