Hello, search committees! Welcome to some samples of my work.
First, we’ll start with my curriculum vitae – also feel free to get to know me by reading about me, my teaching, my writing, my music, and, of course, the group I started, Telling Stories.
How about a nice article from my alum, CU-Boulder, about my work with Telling Stories? And check out this great, short video that shows one of Telling Stories’ concerts in a Denver art gallery. Also, look at Kickstarter page, where we used art micropatronage to fund one of our seasons.
Would you like to hear me play? Click here to listen to Michi, by Keiko Abe and arranged by myself, or here to listen to A Little Prayer, arranged by myself and guitarist Barry Kardon. For something a little different, listen here to my recording of ’81 by Joanna Newsom (an indie-pop harpist and singer), arranged by Chris Jusell for two marimbists and voice.
Or perhaps you’d like to read my writing? The Accidental Juror is a piece I wrote for Telling Stories about the first time I served jury duty, and was chosen for a double-murder trial. Or check out By Any Other Name, where the decision to keep my name became a lot more complex than I’d anticipated.
Would you like to see a sample of how I teach? I create a blog for each course I’ve taught at the college level — it’s not only a place to host my lecture notes, it’s a place I can augment the curriculum with additional reading, clips, and videos. I’ve found this to be hugely successful in my classroom teaching; often students have read the notes ahead of class (yes, on their iPhones), and come prepared for discussion. Here’s a link to my course in Music Appreciation.
In 2008 I started a unique interdisciplinary program at the Denver School of the Arts, rooted in the philosophy of Telling Stories. We mix students from the creative writing, visual arts, and music programs into small, cross-disciplinary groups. Together they work to compose all-original programs featuring each of the arts. Here’s a short clip from the dress rehearsal of last year’s show, which had the theme of “Layers.” The visual arts students are playing with the idea of buildings over sacred lands, and the musicians are moving from more primal sounds (yes, that’s glow-in-the-dark paint on their faces) to a composed work for wind quintet.