Listen!

Here is a recording of my composition "The Gift to Sing," which was commissioned by William and Carolyn Kobler in honor of their 50th class reunion at Luther College.   (This is just a bootleg recording I made with my phone.  I hope that a better 'official' recording will be shared with me at some point.)

One of the songs that the Lincoln Chamber Singers performed for the Carthage Christmas Festival was my arrangement of the Dutch carol "King Jesus Hath a Garden."  As you probably know,  Holland is renowned for its amazing flowers, so it's no surprise that the most famous of all Dutch carols would reflect that country's love

When I heard that the theme for the 2020 Carthage Christmas Festival was "Come, with Healing in Thy Wings" I set about to compose a song for the Lincoln Chamber Singers that would fold into that intriguing and timely theme.   I knew that my singers had agreed to record their portion of the concert by

This is "The Winter's Rose," which is a new musical setting of a text I wrote some years ago for a piece titled "The Winter and the Rose."  It springs from one of my favorite images of Christmas- that of Jesus as a beautiful rose blooming in the midst of the winter. The melody for

This is an arrangement I made of the Catalan carol "Salten y Ballen" - "Shepherds and Lasses."   I have been told that the original song is not really associated with Christmas at all - but was adapted as a Christmas carol by Elizabeth Posten (most famous for "Jesus Christ the Apple Tree.")  I shuffled the

Here is a recording of the Lincoln Chamber Singers performing the exquisite Christmas hymn "Lo, how a Rose e'er Blooming" by Michael Praetorius for the 2019 Christmas Festival "Light & Life to All."

This is my most recent composition for the Lincoln Chamber Singers. So small the stable- so dark the night- but up in the sky shines so brilliant a light. Follow that star and a Babe you will find who offers salvation to all humankind. It's the One named Jesus - the One named Jesus -

This Norwegian hymn is among the most beautiful and moving hymns ever written - both musically and textually.  It describes the heavenly host singing triumphant anthems and waving palm branches.  It has been a very meaningful part of many funerals over the years, especially for people of Norwegian descent.   For me personally, I will always

"Precious" is my setting of a beautiful text from Isaiah 43: "See I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are mine. You are precious in my sight and I love you."  I composed this for my senior choir at Holy Communion some years ago.   Some of these words are carved into

I ended my "Songs my mother taught me" faculty recital with this song composed in honor of my mom, who she was,  and what was most important to her. Born into the Great Depression-  sleeping in a dresser drawer-* and before she was even 10 years old, the world was engulfed in war.