Written for the choir of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, "Still, Still, Still" presents a new take on the Austrian carol. The SATB piece with piano accompaniment opens with a delicate, cinematic introduction and gives way to the traditional scoring for choral voices. As verses continue, the choral harmonies broaden and develop subtly, with the piano part venturing more and more toward late-romantic swells. The verses were written by the original author, with new verses by the composer, his wife (Roxanna), and his friend (Pastor Rich Sisco). Chandler High School Community Choir Wendy Umbrianna, director Charles Zoll, piano

Tough Air (or, more to what I was originally thinking--"Tough Sh!t") was composed at the request of my friend, clarinetist DaJuan Brooks. He wanted a piece that would pit him against the loudest instrument he could think of, the organ. So this is that piece. DaJuan Brooks, clarinet Charles Zoll, organ

"Arirang" (the de-facto national anthem of South Korea) provides the source for this viola and piano composition. Here, I took a celebratory and festive approach following the initial opening stillness. Carolyn Snyder, viola Charles Zoll, piano

The full title of this work ("Bailes encima del escritorio de nuestra juventud / Dances atop the school desks of our youth") demonstrates my capability of creating word salad. More directly, "Bailes" traverses dance forms from the Americas, including tango, swing, and zapateado. Performers: Left Coast Chamber Ensemble

Expansion and contraction are the two defining features of this piece. Interval, rhythm, and time get pulled and squished as I wonder why it is that composers tend to write from the hours of 5pm to 9pm instead of 9am to 5pm. Performed by the Transmission Ensemble, "5 to 9" served to complete the (second attempt) at my masters degree requirements.

Well, it's not! But it is jazz-y. "This is Not Jazz" was composed for two clarinetists--Caitlin Beare and Dimitri Ashkenazy. The composer and the aforementioned clarinetists all met at the Talis Festival in 2018. The piece jostles between several ideas, all with the question in mind of "what makes something groovy?" Dimitri Ashkenazy, clarinet Anna Magdalena Kokits, piano

A momentary piece, Timestamp is a playful and energetic fragment that I hope to one day expand. Dimitri Ashkenazy, clarinet Peter DelGrosso Riccardo Privitera, viola

Largely inspired by the short and simple hymn "Celtic Alleluia", this piece also includes "Come Thou Fount, "The Strife is O'er", "Now the Green Blade Rises", "Be Thou My Vision", and just a hit of "Jesus Christ is Risen Today" at the end. In Irish tradition, the only recording I have of this piece is a live performance outside. Performers: Tanner Bayles, tin whistle Bonnie Teplik, violin Charles Zoll, piano

I was completely engrossed in Isaac Asimov's galaxy-spanning, seven-book series "Foundation" when I received the commission from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to compose this work. In my attempt to set the majority of the story to music, I explored similar expanding/contracting elements used in my piece "5 to 9". You can hear density change as disruptive forces (the horn section) move the action towards climactic moments. The piece concludes with spacious strings and marimba, eluding to a return to our musical roots. Perfomers: Robert Spano, conducting Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Written for The Cygnus Trio, Amalgam recreates the ADHD-fueled energy of Andy Dwyer (from the TV series "Parks and Rec"). Performers: Benjamin Stuchbery, flute Erica Stuchbery, violin Jonathan Stuchbery, guitar

This short piano piece is a tribute to my piano professor, Dr. Paula Fan, who passed away suddenly in 2023. She was an incredible person and musician, having served both in the Tucson Symphony Orchestra as Principal Keyboardist and at the University of Arizona as a Regents Professor of piano for decades. She was a fixture of the Tucson community... as well as an insatiable cat-lover. Possessing (or being possessed by) some-23 cats at any given time, Paula was as equally dedicated to giving her piano pupils her all as well as providing for her cat family. She would often post on social media about the untimely passing of one of these friends, usually declaring that they had "crossed over the Rainbow Bridge". Though an animal-lover myself, I had not encountered this phrase until reading it from Paula. Performer: Charles Zoll, piano

Though not due to COVID-19, the year 2020 saw the deaths of three great musicians and composers and sources of my own inspiration: McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea, and Nikolai Kapustin. This piece is a tribute to them, written as a sort of exercise to answer my question: "How might these three greats write a piece based on my little tune?" I hope to have both captured their individual style while also maintaining my compositional voice in this three movement work for alto sax and piano. Mike Epping, alto sax Charles Zoll, piano

I wrote this piece while watching a Czech street performer dressed as a clown entertain children with large bubbles made using a string contraption. Performers: Amal Gochenour, flute Brendan Ryan, flute Tatiana Malyarova, oboe Caitlin Beare, clarinet in Bb

My first and only work in the narration+music space, "Bliss and the Pale Blue Dot" tells the story of a young girl who lives in a steel-enclosed planet in the future. All she knows is the climate-controlled idealistic world around her, but she wants to know what the rest of the universe holds in store for her. Performers: Steve Aveson, narration Boston Musica Viva Marimba Magic

A sonata for viola and piano, "Screen Time" examines video gaming, isolation, community, angst, nostalgia, and the thrill of waiting for a game to start. Written for new friend and violist Louis Privitera and his studio, this is an intermediate-advanced level piece (for the viola--the piano part is another story). i. Title Screen ii. Loading Screen iii. Split Screen Performers: Louis Privitera, viola Charles Zoll, piano