I led a consortium to commission the third part of the Tomes saga by composer Benjamin McMillan. With the help of 25 tubists, a new work was commissioned using thematic materials and leitmotifs from the previous two. In this one, the hero must fight the dragon, Tugarin, to restore his village in an epic fight to the finish.
Performed March 2019 at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio.
I have done a great amount of study on the use of the tuba in Russia. My dissertation document, The History and Usage of the Tuba in Russia was a finalist for the Clifford Bevan Award in research. I also like adapting works for other instruments that I feel fit well on tuba, and also performing on contrabass tuba. This piece, “Field of the Dead” is originally composed by Sergei Prokofiev as a voice solo in Sergei Eisenstein’s Alexander Nevsky.
Performed March 2018 at Purdue University Fort Wayne in Indiana
Alexander Arutiunian was an Armenian composer who studied in what is now present day Russia. Though his earlier works reflected the style of many Soviet composers, namely due to censorship of music under the Stalin regime. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Arutiunian’s works, including his Concerto for Tuba, infused the Armenian musical culture into the music. The performance below is from the lively third movement of the aforementioned work.
Some orchestral composers in the late 19th through the 20th centuries used the tuba in some famous solos. Here is me performing the famous American in Paris solo by George Gershwin. This performance was with the Ohio State University Wind Symphony in Severance Hall.
Dr. James M. Green 