I graduated with a BA in Music Composition from Shepherd University, where I studied under Dr. Mark Andrew Cook. From 2009–2011 I was Assistant Director of Music at St. James the Greater Roman Catholic Church in Charles Town, WV, where I was mentored by Gary Penkala. From 2011–2014 I was Director of Music & Liturgy at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Hagerstown, MD. Since 2014 I have been singing and writing for the choir of the Priory of the Annunciation in Charles Town, WV, home of the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem, where I attend Mass with my wife and children and am a member of the Third Order.
In 2015, my setting of Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel won 2nd prize in the inaugural composition contest of the Suspicious Cheese Lords. I later joined the Lords as a countertenor from 2015-2019 and got to perform my own piece with them after it won the contest, which earned some critical acclaim. In 2022, my setting of Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence was selected by the Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship to be recorded by the Vos Omnes Virtual Choir for Archbishop Cordelione’s virtual Christmas card/message, which was covered by Aletia. In 2024, my setting of God’s Will was recorded by the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles as part of their new album in honor of Sister Wilhelmina.
Gregorian Chant has always been regarded as the supreme model for sacred music, so that it is fully legitimate to lay down the following rule: the more closely a composition for church approaches in its movement, inspiration and savor the Gregorian form, the more sacred and liturgical it becomes; and the more out of harmony it is with that supreme model, the less worthy it is of the temple.
Tra le sollecitudini (1903), Pope St. Pius X, emphasis added
The above-mentioned qualities are also possessed in an excellent degree by Classic Polyphony, especially of the Roman School, which reached its greatest perfection in the sixteenth century, owing to the works of Pierluigi da Palestrina, and continued subsequently to produce compositions of excellent quality from a liturgical and musical standpoint. Classic Polyphony agrees admirably with Gregorian Chant, the supreme model of all sacred music, and hence it has been found worthy of a place side by side with Gregorian Chant.
I take as my compositional motto the mindset captured in the above quote from Tra le sollecitudini (and reinforced by subsequent documents before, during, and even after the Second Vatican Council), which holds that the more closely a composition is inspired by Gregorian chant, the more suitable it is for use in the liturgy—and that of the non-Gregorian compositions in the Church’s history of sacred music, those of classical Renaissance polyphony are the best models for inspiration, embellishment, and development of the Gregorian themes. Contrary to the feeling prevalent in modern compositional circles, I do not believe that this idiom has nothing more to say in today’s musical landscape and should be put up on a shelf as a relic of past times; rather, I believe that it should continue to inspire that inflorescence from the Gregorian stock envisaged in Church documents on sacred music. My music, while not an exact reproduction of the Renaissance style and definitely influenced by musical developments since then, is very much at home in that idiom and would not appear entirely alien to musicians from that time period.
My primary inspiration comes from the Catholic liturgy, especially that of the traditional Roman Rite which has been handed down through the ages and finds its current expression in the Missale Romanum of 1962. Most of the music that I write is liturgical music, and as such, my intent is to make it freely available for use in the liturgy rather than attempt to sell it professionally. I do take commissions, but I prefer that they follow a more patronage-like model where a donation is made to bring about the piece’s conception, and afterward it is released into the commons for use in the liturgy.
It is my sincere hope and prayer that my music, which could not be written but for the grace of God, may be used for His glory and for the edification of the faithful. May God bless you!