As we turn the page on yet another year gone by, I am excited by the prospects of the new year and the opportunities it brings. Of the many projects currently on my plate, most pressing is a video game by my friend Greg Brill, for which I am writing the music. It is going to be a fun venture, and will certainly be a change of pace from my normal routines of writing.

Also in the works and hopeful of its completion later this year is a chamber opera. It's a two act opera with a small cast (soprano, tenor, baritone and small chorus of three), a small instrumentation (woodwind quintet, piano, strings and percussion), and is based on a story inspired by my bird song set The Bird Lady (lyrics by Linda Marcus and Julie Meyers). Also called The Bird Lady, the libretto was written by writer/lyricst Germain Shames from Arizona, whom I met through LinkedIN. The Bird Lady art song set will receive its premiere performance on February 27th at the Advent Lutheran Church on Broadway in New York City. Performing will be my dear friendsoprano Lauren Alfano-Ishida, along with violist Artie Dibble and pianist Christopher Sahar. I am hopeful that the opera will receive its first partial reading later this year as well.

A newly completed commission for the Phildelphia-based ensemble illumine will also receive its premiere in 2018. The House With Nobody In It, an art song for mezzo-soprano, violin and piano, is a setting of the Joyce Kilmer poem of the same name. It was commissioned by the trio in August 2017 and will be premiered sometime in the Spring of 2018.

My first solo CD project will be released this year through PARMA Recordings on their Ansonica label. SOMETHING MORE is set to be released on March 9th and features eight of my small combo jazz pieces. This has been a project long in the making and at great expense, and I am thrilled to finally be able to share it with you . . . in March. Stay tuned!!

I'm sure there will be many projects that come up along the way, but these are the big pieces that will occupy much of my time in 2018. I wish for you many riches and blessings in the coming year. May you be filled with happiness, and be fruitful, profitable, and above all else, loved.