Upcoming Album Release

Yes, and… ALBUM RELEASE (November 7th, 2025, pre-order now)

My album Yes, and…featuring a collection of ten “percussion plus” solos, is set to release on Bandcamp and all streaming services on November 7th! You can pre-order it starting TODAY (September 10th). If you heard my single “Trigon,” which was released last year, you’ll be glad to see it’s making a reappearance on this album! Below is an excerpt from the liner notes to give you an idea of the ethos of the project.

To start, percussionists are the quintessential “yes, and” performers. Save for logistical impossibilities, I have rarely heard a percussionist say “no” to exploring new sounds and instrument combinations. We don’t have nearly the historical breadth of music written for us as our string, piano, and voice colleagues, for example, which also helps with avoiding precedents of what denotes a “standard” percussion solo. Besides, it’s just downright fun to do things like visit a you-pick junkyard, hardware store, or thrift store for new sounds! That said, every track on this record adds a “plus” element to the solo, including the use of electronics, speaking, humming, singing, and creating instrument combinations to enhance the available range for the performer. Yes, I could have written just for the double seconds steel pans… and, why not extend the upper register with a tenor pan?! Yes, percussionists have plenty of technical work to keep track of in a solo… and, we also have access to our breath and voice to include an additional human element.

In the spirit of “yes, and,” it was imperative to me that this ten-track album include recordings from ten different performers. Not only was this to highlight the incredible work of my friends and colleagues and to take some of the spotlight off of myself (that part is very true…), but many of the folks on this record are at similar professional stages in our careers, and an album credit can look really good for a tenure portfolio, job application, CV, etc. In a world that often appears cutthroat and competitive, especially with building a profession in the arts, I wanted this project to demonstrate the power of community and collaboration. Furthermore, this record would not have happened without the community of over 70 sources who contributed financially through grants and a crowdfunding campaign. Projects like this always need a community to make it happen.

Yes, creating an album is quite an undertaking, and there are also many obstacles that can get in the way of sticking to a particular timeline. Planning for this record began in early 2022. The initial timeline was approximated for a spring 2023 release date. Then, a summer 2023 release date. And then fall 2023. And, and… you get the point. At the same time, releasing the record in late 2025, nearly four years after the initial planning, reminds me that many of the finest things in life take time. Coordinating travel and recording schedules for ten performers from across the US is already a heavy (and incredibly worthwhile) lift, not to mention composing two new works for the album and spending scores of hours with Gavin Ryan on edits and mixing (Gavin is the superhero behind this entire record, by the way. None of this would have been possible without his expertise, patience, and unbelievable collection of gear). It is also worth noting that both Gavin and I were working towards our DMA degrees as this album was being developed, so we both had a number of projects to juggle and prioritize. This is just another example of how yes + and = making peace with the flow. 

Yes…

…this album experienced quite the journey to get to what you are listening to now…

…and…

…it was totally worth it.

Thank you for listening and going on this journey with me.

P.S. - If you supported this album through the Indiegogo campaign, please be sure to check your email for a special note from me!

“An Open Letter to Sam Beam” SINGLE RELEASE (September 10th, 2025)

The second single from Yes, and… is “An Open Letter to Sam Beam,” written for solo hammered dulcimer with percussion and voice. Dulcimer, percussion, and voice virtuoso David Degge recorded this track for the album, which is now available on Bandcamp and all other streaming services!

Refugia Festival 2025

Refugia Festival (Ann Arbor, MI, September 28th, 2025)

Refugia Festival returns for its second year! This year’s one-day event will take place in Nichols Arboretum in Ann Arbor on September 28th. Our second season features four performances, three educational workshops, a new community-curated arts gallery, a service activity, and more! It places a great emphasis on programming regional artists and educators to deepen the place-based connection. Programming is broad in style, genre, and medium, yet rooted in community and building a relationship to the surrounding ecosystem.  

Refugia Festival is an innovative event series that combines music performances with educational workshops and community service to advocate for environmental conservation through sound. Refugia Festival’s mission aims to address two problems related to conservation and the performing arts. First, human-caused climate change affects everyone globally, but sound pollution is rarely presented as a critical concern, even though awareness could play a role in ecosystem preservation. Additionally, numerous works in the performing arts are dedicated to environmental justice but are often presented in indoor venues, such as concert halls, that disconnect the listener from the environment and lessen the art’s impact. To solve these issues, Refugia Festival produces outdoor, ecosystem-specific events that emphasize the relationships between the arts and our living Earth to bring awareness to the beauty of natural soundscapes and offer solutions to mitigate sound pollution. Learn more on the Refugia Festival website, and register to attend!

Upcoming Performances/Appearances

Premiere of New Work Supported by Musiqa (November 1st, 2025)

Thanks to Musiqa’s Emerging Composer Commission, I am putting the finishing touches on a new woodwind quintet for WindSync. The music+poetry concert on November 1st will also feature poetry by Andrew Kozma, in partnership with Houston’s Inprint. More information can be found on Musiqa’s 25-26 season calendar.

PASIC (November 14-15, 2025)

Want to pick up a physical copy of Yes, and… or take a closer look at the sheet music for those pieces (and many others)? Come say hello at the Griffith Percussion booth at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC)! I will be there on November 14th and 15th— see you then!

New Compositions/Publications

Resonant Gratitude - complete dissertation

You may remember my dissertation piece, “Resonant Gratitude” which premiered at last year’s Refugia Festival. The piece considers humans’ musical relationship to our natural soundscapes, specifically seeking how our music can coexist with, or be in service to, our natural surroundings. I’m pleased to announce that both the recording of last year’s performance (below and on YouTube) and my complete dissertation are now available!

“Resonant Gratitude” is part of a larger body of work related to ecology, environmentalism, and advocacy to preserve the richness of our planet’s biodiversity. This collection includes compositions with flexible performance interpretation, ensemble pieces with recordings from some of the quietest spaces I have visited (as well as those from my own backyard…), a 30-minute fixed media work with excerpted interviews from other artists who emphasize conservation action, and educational activities (dare I say curriculum?!) that help develop a deeper relationship to our natural surroundings through sound, just to name a few.

If you are interested in learning more about the collection of works and opportunities to present some of these pieces as a themed event/residency, let’s connect and chat more about it soon!

Here are a few other compositions that have been written recently:

“Breaking News” for Flannau Duo (piano and percussion) - commentary on the overuse of the phrase “breaking news” while evoking sounds of typewriters, Morse code/wire communication, and the band Dawn of Midi (how did that get in there?!)

“…As Resistance” for Matt Albert’s &Violin Project, with Doug Perkins (violin and marimba) - leaning into my needs for political self-preservation through folk, bluegrass, and Americana-inspired sound worlds

“Zone of Avoidance” for a consortium led by the Fisher/Lau Project (percussion duo and fixed electronics) - reflecting on what is unknown to us beyond clouds of interstellar dust in the Milky Way

“I am obliged to agree to that of which I would rather not” for Caroline Richards (multi percussion and speaking) - combining suppressed feminist rage with a medieval song written by one of the original feminist “ragers”

“Turning Point” for Braedon Bomgardner (vibraphone and fixed electronics) - attempting to balance work realities with sonic optimism, which turns out to be a longing for groundedness and peace

Please me an email if you would like to learn more about any of the works above! I’m happy to provide perusal scores and sample audio files upon request.

Interview with CanvasRebel

Over the summer I was honored to give an interview with CanvasRebel to talk about the Refugia Festival, “Resonant Gratitude”, and my creative process. You can read it here!

Shout-Out Corner - Nora Farley

Nora and I met at the University of Michigan, where she earned her masters in composition. While we share many interests, especially as it relates to our love of the natural world and our efforts to advocate for environmental conservation through our music (she also volunteered at Refugia Festival 2024, sang in my dissertation, Resonant Gratitude, and plans to volunteer again at Refugia 2025 later this month), I am incredibly moved by her drive to help others and create opportunities for community music-making. Nora runs the Pagan Community Music Circle in Ann Arbor, which hosts sing-alongs, potlucks, and sacred nature hikes. Talk about grassroots organizing!

To listen to some of her music and learn about her community work, please check out her website. I am particularly fond of the round, “Earth, Sky, and Sea” as well as “Dreams of an Unknown Planet.”

Thanks for all you do, Nora!