I have invited selected listeners to preview an initial set of pieces I have gathered so far as I work towards a new album of my piano music. Seven pieces are currently included. And I hope to add a further five pieces to complete the album. Preliminary recordings of the tracks are hosted on the SoundCloud website.

A film I wrote music for, The Far Field, directed by John Slattery, is to be screened at the Chicago Irish Film Festival, March 4-24, 2024. The film has already garnered acclaim at screenings at film festivals around the world, including: Biografilm Festival, Bologna, Italy; IndieCork, Cork, Ireland (Irish premiere); Sydney Australian Film Festival; Oaxaca Film Festival, Mexico.

For the past few months I have been playing the piano regularly at Andre's Lounge in Lakeport. My set consists of classical favorites, minimalist and original compositions. Mindful that the style of music played in bars is more usually jazz/blues-oriented, I am grateful to Andre Williams (the owner, and an accomplished R&B vocalist himself) for being willing to try my blend of music. It seems the patrons are enjoying it. I am really enjoying it, and I plan to continue playing there for forseeable future. Adding new material to my set each week. Wednesday nights at 7 PM. Andre's Lounge, 150 N Main Street, Lakeport, CA.

In an effort to reenergize my connections with the Scottish music scene, I have recently (re)joined the Scottish Music Centre. My composer profile page is now online. And a number of my scores are also available for purchase via the shop. The shop listings also provide a play feature, by which listeners can hear recordings of the works. One piece in particular I hadn't listened to for a while gave me a pleasant surprise on hearing it again. Lamentations - in this recording performed by German guitarist Robert Lampis.

Also pleased to announce the availability of my Hindsight and Seven Visions CDs on the new SoCo Local marketplace site. Will be adding digital downloads, song production for reggae artist Caesar Myles, and lots more of my music soon.

I'm very pleased to announce the availability of the new album, Crossing Musical Frontiers, by Scottish Voices, which includes a recording of my piece The Well, for three female voices and electronics. It is available on Spotify, as well as on the Naxos Music Library subscription service. And will be available on CD later this Autumn.

Recently I was asked by filmmaker (and friend of mine) John Slattery, to create some music for a short film of his. He asked for four pieces: two pop beats for contemporary teens, an 80s-inflected lo-fi electro pop piece, and a short pseudo-classical children's piano piece. Having spent the better part of last year studying, creating, and producing hip-hop beats, I am increasingly comfortable creating beat-driven music of various kinds. The music is being used diegetically; i.e. played back on set as part of the film production (rather than layered in post-production).

Harpers Ferry is the name of a very historic town in West Virginia, which I visited while on a trip to the Easy Coast in April of this year. It is the site of John Brown's famous but unsuccessful attempt to mount a slave insurrection, as well as numerous civil war battles. On the same trip I had met harpist Jacqueline Pollauf at Radford Virginia, where she was involved in a concert with Scottish Voices, and played harp in a performance and recording of my piece The Joyous. Impressed with Jacqueline's sensitivity to my music, I decided to write a solo harp piece for her. And with impressions of Harpers Ferry still fresh in my mind, they began to feed into my work on the harp piece. While writing the piece I also received a lot of helpful feedback from Jacqueline about harp practicalities, which I am grateful for. And consequently, I am very happy with the way the piece turned out. And therefore very excited to learn of its upcoming premiere at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC on October 25. In lieu of Jacqueline's performance, here is a mockup of the piece.

I recently returned from a trip to Virginia where I attended a performance and recording of my piece The Joyous, given by Scottish Voices, at Radford University. This was part of Scottish Voices' week-long residency at the university, hosted by composer and faculty-member Bruce Mahin. And included a concert at the Covington Center on April 10, and recordings of compositions by Graham Hair, Bruce Mahin, Kendall Kennison, and myself. I was very happy with the performance and recording of The Joyous, and really enjoyed the collegiality during the whole week. It's very gratifying that Scottish Voices are including my female-voice pieces in their repertoire, performing them frequently at concerts. The recordings of these pieces are slated for CD release on the Ravello label. The first of these is The Well, a preview of which is available on the Scottish Voices website.