Since my first commission in 2009, I have continually worked with composers to bring new works for euphonium into this world. I’m proud to say that many of these works have gone on to gain worldwide recognition through performances and recordings.
Below is my reverse-chronological list of commissions and consortia. Scroll through and check these pieces out!
Composer wishlist:
- John Luther Adams
- Orjan Matre
- Osvaldo Golijov
- Julie Giroux
- William Bolcom
- Caroline Shaw
- and many, many more…
Anthony Donofrio
Nine Miniatures in Four Parts for Euphonium and Piano
Premiere: October 25th, 2019 – University of Nebraska at Kearney – Steven Larson, piano
Anthony really likes to write evening-length pieces, so I thought I would challenge him to write this fantastic collection of small pieces. The movements are non-linear, each of the 4 parts has a distinct style, and are spread among the 9 movements. The centerpiece is an unaccompanied vocalise.
Funded by an international consortium: Robert Benton, Hidenori Arai, John Caputo, Jason Gilliam, Matthew Shipes, Danielle van Tuinen.
Ricardo Lorenz
Unshaken for Euphonium and Piano
Premiere: July 2018, Real Conservatorio Superior Musica de Madrid. With Omar Jonatás Sánchez Mártil, piano
Written to be an exciting recital opener, this piece was commissioned for two events: The opener for my second CD, Monkey to the Sky, and my recital at the 2018 La Asociación Española de Tubas y Bombardinos conference in Madrid, Spain.
This piece is recorded on my second album Monkey to the Sky.
Emilio José González
BeanSiě – for Euphonium and Prepared Piano
From Irish folklore, the bean sí, or banshee, is a female spirit that warns of an imminent death in specific lineages. It is said that the banshee can be heard wailing nearby the night before someone will die. This piece for solo euphonium and prepared piano is an exploration of the various qualities that the banshee embodies: denial, mourning, and anger. To help tell this story, artwork was commissioned from Shay O’Day and poetry was commissioned from Emily Khilfeh.
Peter Meechan
Night Flight for Euphonium and Piano
Premiere: March 2017 with Naiying Liao, piano. At Iowa State University
In the summer of 2016, I heard Peter Meechan’s fantastic tuba sonata, One Sweet Dream, which is inspired by—more than based upon—various musical ideas by The Beatles. When I heard the piece, I asked him if he would be willing to write a lullaby inspired by Blackbird. My daughter Julia had been born a couple of months prior, and the first music I sang to her was Blackbird. This stunningly simple yet beautiful piece ended up being my daughter’s first birthday present.
Jesus Santandreu
Bestiarium of the Lost Dark Matter for Euphonium and Wind Band (or piano)
Wind Band Premiere: July 2018, Real Conservatorio Superior Musica de Madrid. With Banda de Música de Villarejo de Salvanés, Felix Ramirez de Blas, conductor
Piano Premiere: March 2017, Iowa State University, with Naiying Liao, piano
I asked Jesus to compose this piece in China, where we were both working with the Dunshan Symphonic Wind Orchestra. The idea is that it should be a suite of other-worldly animals. His wife envisioned the animals, complete with fantastic artwork, and he wrote the music.
This piece is recorded on my second album Monkey to the Sky.
Michael Goodman
Euphonium Sonata
Michael Goodman is a euphonium player, so his sonata should fit pretty well under the fingers. Unfortunately, I never had an opportunity to perform this one. It was a worthwhile project though, and I hope to perform this one soon!
Jeffrey Harrington
Un Voyage à Cythère for Euphonium Octet
This piece was originally intended to be a euphonium+loop pedal piece. The composer opted instead to write a euphonium octet. The lower voices are to be recorded, with the upper voice performed live. I recorded this piece in chunks, but the end result was not quite there. I’ll revisit this piece soon.
Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen
Euphonium Concerto No. 2
Originally composed for Euphonium Star David Thornton, this reduction for euphonium, piano and percussion was commissioned in 2011. I really fell in love with the original version of the piece, and absent a brass band with which to play it, I asked the composer to write a reduction. The result is quite a different piece than the original, though no less effective.
This piece is recorded on my second CD Monkey to the Sky.
Alex Shapiro
Of Song and Touch
This is a very nice bassoon sonata, adapted by the composer for euphonium and piano. A bit challenging in terms of endurance, it’s a fantastic addition to the repertoire!
Ricardo Lorenz
Monkey to the Sky
Observant euphonium players will recognize the unique instrumentation of Monkey to the Sky as the same as Leos Janacek’s quirky left-hand piano concertino Capriccio. I feel the Janacek piece deserves more performances, and so commissioned a concertino with the same instrumentation, only featuring the euphonium rather than the piano, so that intrepid euphoniumists might be able to program both pieces on recitals.
The humorous title stems from a mistranslation of a Guatemalan poem. The original text in the poem is: ‘monos pal cielo. In this case, the apostrophe shortens the word vamanos (we go), so that the phrase means we go to heaven. But the translator must have not seen the apostrophe, interpreting monos as monkey, so literally: Monkey to the Sky.
This piece is the title work of my second CD Monkey to the Sky.