Wolfs Percussion

If you had told me even just a few years ago that my name would be listed as the composer of a piece being performed at the GMEA In-Service I would've laughed in your face. And, yet, here we are. A few weeks removed from that happening. Even now I still catch myself thinking "did that really happen?"

I guess I really am a "real" composer, now? Maybe?

Immense gratitude to the people who made this happen for me. Of course,
and his awesome kids at DSA for playing my piece and performing it so well. It will never be lost on me that I am surrounded by people who have so much faith in me. Thanks for letting me tag along and play the Timpani Concerto as well. It was a blast!

But, ultimately, none of this would've happened without God and the incredible blessing He's placed on my life. Even in just the last 4 years, there were moments where I had to face my own mortality and wasn't sure if I'd live to see this day. The ability to create music is something that I know I cannot achieve on my own. Every piece I write is thanks to our Creator, for allowing me this ability to access His immense creativity and share it in this way, and I will never take that for granted. I wouldn't even be here if I had followed my own path and gone where I thought I needed to be. Inspite of everything else that has happened, I am grateful to God for bringing me to WG and placing so many wonderful people in my life that ultimately led to this happening.

Now that the parent preview show has finished, I can finally publicly express how unbelievably elated I am that WE HAVE NEW DRUMS at

So many people to thank for making this happen and alleviating the stress I have endured the past 3 years trying to get those old drums to not sound like boxes due to how poor of a condition they were in.

Thank you The Best Boss Ever for spoiling me and being willing to get me so many nice new toys 🤣 (and there's hopefully more to come soon 👀) I and the kids are so incredibly grateful to have a band director who cares so much about the percussion section and is willing to invest in giving us what we need to succeed. (Also thanks Jon for helping secure the grant that covered half of the retrofit)

Thanks to Reidling and Gibson for being willing to slide us some of their portion of the fine arts funding for this school year so we could cover the rest of the cost. We work with some nice people.

Shoutout to for working with us on getting these gorgeous and wonderful sounding Championship drums, stands and cases. When I found out we were getting new drums and was asked what I wanted there really was only one option. Pearl has never let me down, and I think it's safe to say that trend will not change now.

Also, thanks to for these sick drum wraps. The kids love them so it was definitely worth the work of putting them on 🤣

Glad to be playing on heads this season. The Black Max/Falams ii combo is *chefs kiss* for the snares. I've been on the Powermax 2 bandwagon for over a decade and it would take a miracle to convince me to try any other marching bass heads because these are perfection. And I'm loving the clarity and projection we get from the Clear Pinstripe Quads heads.

I'm so excited to have these drums. The kids are excited as well. Ya'll gotta come see us live this year to hear these beauties for yourself (parting myself on the back for how incredibly well tuned these snares are lol).

A bit late, but reflecting on this year of teaching (I don't even know what year I'm on at this point 😅) was more challenging than in years past so that's why it's taken so long.

Actually managed to perform a lot more than I had in a *long* time, which was fun. Always enjoy getting to conduct ensembles outside of our band kids, and getting to turn my director brain off for a few hours and just be a guy in the back of the room hitting stuff. Also enjoyed getting to share the stage with a dear friend, and watching two of my friends perform their butts off.

In a year where I was forced to face my mortality - and by proxy, all of my friends and students were also forced to face it as well - I was reminded of the truest power of music: To heal. To bring people together. To remind you of the beauty that exists when you may lose sight of that because your life is in a constant state of absurdity. I'm grateful to my friends and the kids for showing me so much love and support this year. I'm grateful that, in spite of my health, they were still able to perform so incredibly well so often this year. The trophies from marching band and high ratings at LGPE and NEGPS were great, but seeing the kids perform so beautifully time and again is what truly brought me the most joy.

I mean it in the absolute truest sense when I say I love it here and am so grateful for these 3 years with The Green Team.

I guess now that I have the details for both of the concerts I should probably talk about this?

I recall having two separate conversations with Gibson and Reidling, back in May, during which they both said something to the effect of "Why don't you do more with the stuff you write? You should put your writing out there more, besides just marching band". I kinda stashed that away in my mind as it just being people who are important to me saying nice things because they're being supportive of me.

But I wound up feeling inspired to write some new stuff over the summer and early in the fall semester, which was unusual for me because I'm usually so laser focused on writing marching band stuff and doing marching band camps and whatnot. Plus it was concert band stuff. And I didn't really think of myself as a "concert band composer". I'd never really done it before, after all.

Around September I started seeing a few different ensembles and organizations posting about a 'call for scores' and I thought "nah they'd just reject my stuff. It's not worth it". But then Gibson and Reidling both - again in two separate conversations which just further affirmed that I had to do this - told me I should go for it because "what's the worst that could happen?"

Fast forward to now. Well, December was when I found out that of the three 'call for scores'/composition competitions I submitted things for, my compositions were selected in some capacity for all three of them.

Which means that, including the percussion ensemble piece my own kids will be playing this semester, my name will be attached to the words "World Premier" on 4 occasions this spring. Which is absolutely baffling. I'm not a "real" composer. I'm just a percussion-guy that kinda knows music theory? Or at least that's what I've always told myself. But I guess this is further validation (along with the fact that 3 bands trusted me to write their entire marching band show last season...) that I'm actually good at this?

I'll wait until I receive the concert videos before I post these pieces, since having actual humans playing them will absolutely be better than a Finale recording.

What a weird few months it's been...

I don't think I ever posted the videos from our run at PASIC, so to celebrate day, here are the videos from all three rounds, in order.

The 1st and 3rd videos are the same material, but from a different angle since we had to change the side we were standing on between rounds.

Videos 2, 4 and 5 are the same material but the introductory snare features are different all three times (because of course they are. My boys had heat for days in '18 so I had to let them throw it) and again different angles.

Video 6 was something we literally had practiced maybe 3 or 4 times all year and just never played but decided to throw it in for kicks.

Enjoy some really tasty beats and fun times, courtesy and my (and ) kids when we took PASIC by storm in 2018.

What a season, man.

I'm so incredibly proud of these kids. From day 1 of percussion camp, I felt there was something special happening here. Things were clicking in a way they hadn't - or sooner than - the past 2 years. Not just playing-wise, either. This section just felt different.

I remember the first football game and the run they had and thinking to myself "ya know...we just might be on to something this year". And, sure enough, we were.

First comp, we had an okay run. Wasn't our best, but the kids pulled it out and we won Class A while finishing 7th Overall.
I remember telling the kids afterwards that I was happy but "just imagine what we could do if we put our best out there?"
And we found out a few weeks later at comp 2. Kids had a *phenomenal* run. We were up against some SOLID lines, and managed to take 2nd in Class AA and finished 3rd OVERALL (been a few years since I've had a top 3 overall placement).
Last night, though? Last night was special. The week started off shaky, but the kids turned it on at rehearsal Thursday and I knew they were ready to finish strong. The run at the game Friday night was one of the best we've had all season and I was so psyched for what would happen Saturday. They didn't disappoint, either. It wasn't the best run we've had all season, but it was definitely one of them. I think we all felt it coming off the field. And they were rewarded for it. 1st place in Class A and 2nd OVERALL (BY ONE FREAKING POINT AT THAT).

3 Shows. 5 Trophies. And so many compliments from other percussion directors and band directors who told me how much they loved my kids playing and my writing

I'm so pleased with this season. Not just because of the trophies and placements. Validating as the physical rewards and high numbers are, the musical growth these young people showed from July to Now? That's what makes me the happiest. The support they showed one another (and me)? That's what matters.

I love these kids. I love this job. I'm so incredibly proud of EVERYONE here with the Green Team, but I'm especially proud of this Drumline. Where these kids were 3 years ago and where they are now is astronomically different. As people and as musicians.

Finally taking the time to actually reflect on the entirety of year 2 with the Green Team.

Man, I'm so unbelievably proud of these kids! Some definite moments of stress, questioning my ability as a teacher, wondering if I'm pushing them too hard, and so many other things. But, the high moments: Seeing how hard they were working - on their own, no less, Watching them all be so supportive of one another and excited for each other, My 9th grade babies stepping up BIG TIME (I was kinda mean and threw all of them in the fire with lead parts on at least one piece for percussion ensemble), Last years freshman buying in more to what we're trying to do and the direction I'm trying to take them in, and getting to be in front of them as they put on some incredible performances this year. Those made it all worth the stress and I'd gladly do it all again.

I love it here. I love these kids. I love the direction this percussion program is going in. I'm excited for the future, whether I'm here for it or not. Great things happening over here at WG, man.

As always, grateful to my kids (and the parents). At the end of every rehearsal, I tell them "I'm glad you're here, I'm proud of you, and I love you" and I hope they know how much I truly mean it when I say that.

Enjoy your summer, folks. You've all earned it.

It's the first week in June and I'm already done with 2 shows, on the final movement for 4, and on the third of four movements for 1.

I've never written this fast in my entire life lmao.

I'm...kinda pleased by the progress we're making with the percussion ensemble music so far this semester. Three rehearsals in, haven't spent any class time on the music (yet). For them to be where they are with the lit right now (today we did a full run of 1 piece, made it half through our most difficult piece and half through another) is pretty great to see. Kids are just grinding their butts off on their own and it's showing. Hopefully this keeps up for the entire semester.

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