PROGRAM NOTE:
Big Ideas! is a work which has taken its time to mature—ten years of intermittent revisions
across three states and two degree programs by one very persistent composer! It began as a
single movement, Brevity is the Soul of Wit, composed for the Copper Street Brass Quintet as
part of their 2012 residency with the Schubert Club’s Composition Mentorship Program, an
invaluable opportunity for high school composers living near St. Paul, Minnesota. Inspired by
the experience, I composed two additional movements to precede the original piece. However,
I was an overly ambitious young composer. The music was very challenging and not a good
fit for the high school that planned to premiere the work; Big Ideas! was dormant. Over the
next several years, I occasionally revised the whole composition. Through all the edits and
tweaking, my goal was to enhance the original, youthful spirit of the work. Eventually, my
efforts succeeded, thanks to the Indiana State University Faculty Brass Quintet!