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Program notes

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Sowing Useful Truths
for wind ensemble

In 1802 Thomas Jefferson noted to his Attorney General that he considered letters to his constituents a decent opportunity for "sowing useful truths & principles among the people, which might germinate and become rooted among their political tenets." This always struck me as exactly what all artists do: "seeding" the world with expressions of personal Truth, and very much hoping they take "root". To that end, this work proclaims my own musical Principles, celebrating the elements of counterpoint, color, groove, and style I consider undeniable, and True. Sowing Useful Truths was commissioned by my alma mater, the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Young Artists Wind Ensemble.

—JN

1861, a hymn fantasia for concert band - view note
3 O’Clock Mix, for school ensemble - view note
Across the groaning continent, from Symphony No. 1, My Hands Are a City - view note
As the scent of spring rain..., for wind ensemble - view note
Avenue X, for wind band - view note
Blow It Up, Start Again, for orchestra - view note
Blow It Up, Start Again​, for wind ensemble - view note
Chunk, a funk for winds and percussion - view note
Climbing Parnassus, for wind ensemble - view note
Concertino, for flute solo, chamber winds, and piano - view note
De Profundis, for massed winds - view note
Deep Sky Blue, for viola and piano - view note
Dohyci, miniature for violin and bass clarinet - view note
Lullaby for Munch in Hell, for saxophone quartet - view note
Metropolitan, for orchestra - view note
Milori Blue, for euphonium and piano - view note
Moon by Night, for band and optional chorus - view note
Moon by Night​, Anthem for SATB chorus - view note
My Hands Are a City, from Symphony No. 1, My Hands Are a City - view note
Nocturnes, for piano solo - view note
Ohanashi, for sinfonia - view note
OK Feel Good, for chamber group - view note
OK Feel Good​, for wind orchestra - view note
Practicing Joy, for percussion solo - view note
Prayers of Steel, for brass quintet - view note
Prelude on "Schmücke Dich", for organ solo - view note
Single, for wind band - view note
Stereo Action, for percussion ensemble - view note
Symphony No. 1, My Hands Are a City, for wind ensemble - view note
The Americans, from Symphony No. 1, My Hands Are a City - view note
The Rivers of Bowery, an overture for winds, brass, and percussion - view note
The Vinyl Six, for mixed chamber ensemble - view note
These Inflected Tentacles, for marimba, piano, violin, and cello - view note
Tree, for string orchestra - view note
Uncle Sid, fantasy on a folk tune - view note
Verses from Solomon, for soprano and organ - view note
Vivid Geography, for women's chorus and chamber orchestra - view note
Wapwallopen, string quartet no. 1 - view note