Home > Music Composition

Tag: Music Composition

MN Opera Commission: Chim Lạc (Lost Bird)

My good friend Oanh Vu and I were commissioned by MN Opera to write a mini opera, which will be available to stream for free starting February 9th at 1pm. It's part of a month-long series of short operas created by Minnesota artists.

Oanh wrote the story and co-created a beautiful shadow puppet show with Andrew Young, with the help of puppeteers liping vong and Ty Chapman. I composed the music and songs that came to life thanks to the MN Opera orchestra, vocalists Lady Midnight and Monique Bạch Hạc Nguyen, classical guitarist Milena Petkovic, percussionist Eri Isomura, music mixer Andy Thompson, and sound designer Mike Hallenbeck.

Read more

HELIUM REQUIEM Instrumental Album

Back in 2017, HELIUM REQUIEM started as a post-midnight electronic songwriting binge, that I recruited my cousin Nathan Graves to write lyrics and sing on.

But I recently discovered my instrumental-only version that I had sent to Nate for inspiration. It was basically fully-formed and flowed nicely, so I thought I'd release it into the world as is.

Read more

Catalyst Talks on Music in TV and Film

Catalyst Story Institute asked me to host a 3-part series on music in film and TV, aimed at directors and producers. I talked with several talented Minnesotan guests, including Rick and Morty composer Ryan Elder and master orchestrator Robert Elhai, who has orchestrated around 200 films (Marvel movies, Batman movies, Alien movies, etc.).

Read more

Tour 12: Finale in Minnesota

It's finally here. Four years and 166 episodes later, we've arrived at the finale of the Composer Quest podcast. Before I get too sappy about it, I want to let you know what you'll be in for in this monster episode. It rounds out the end of my world tour, after my journey home to Minnesota. This episode is definitely one for the fans; most of my interviewees in this episode have been prior Composer Quest guests, and I ask them what they've been up to. I don't want to give away too much about how the episode unfolds, but I am really excited for you to listen, when you have 4 hours and 42 minutes to spare.

Read more

Tour 11: Psychology in the Southwest

Ever since I heard music psychologist Dr. Diana Deutsch on Radiolab, I've been fascinated by musical illusions. In this penultimate episode of Composer Quest, I got to visit Diana in person! Join me on a trip that starts at a Halloween organ concert in San Diego and ends in Phoenix with an unprecedented songwriting/podcasting experiment.

Read more

Tour 9: Surprises in Taiwan 2

The second act of my Taiwan adventure features more interviews with music makers in Taipei, plus an interview with me about interviewing. We also discuss the jingles heard everywhere in Taipei, from the train stations to the 7-Elevens to the garbage trucks.

Read more

Tour 8: Surprises in Taiwan

Join me on a musical tour through Taiwan in today's episode of Composer Quest. I stumbled into a music festival celebrating Hakka culture, and I got to record a bunch of interesting ensembles, including the Taiwanese jazz group Sizhukong. Plenty of other surprises come up in this episode, including an impromptu flight to another country...

Read more

Tour 7: Family in Australia

Australia has been my dream vacation spot since I was about six years old. In today's episode of the Composer Quest World Tour, you'll get an audio peek into my adventures staying with musical families in Melbourne and Poatina Village, Tasmania.

Read more