Valle Grande: Overture for Double String Orchestra

“Valle Grande: Overture for Double String Orchestra,” commissioned by the Eldorado High School Orchestra in Albuquerque NM, was premiered by the school\u27s top two string orchestras, conducted by Ruth Striegel on May 3, 2016. It was inspired by a trip that the conductor and I and the students made to Valles Caldera National Preserve the previous September. When Ruth asked me to write a piece for her orchestras that was inspired by a place I loved in New Mexico, it coincided with the opening of the preserve. Since the Jemez Mountains are my favorite place in the state, I had often admired the expansive caldera—then private land—from the highway. But getting a guided tour of it with the students was a peak experience—a lovely confluence of old and new

Playing the policy game: basic knowledge and skills for effective policy process participation

Many of us have likely heard the expression “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” Yet, it is the people who are often excluded from the public policy process. Citizen engagement is typically reactive rather than proactive and passive as opposed to active. Voting and protesting are not the only ways that governments hear the voices of the people. Voting allows citizens to choose individuals who represent their interests, yet their interests are not always represented in ways they desire. Protesting brings attention to issues but doesn’t always lead to problems being solved. This book aims to empower readers to be active participants in the policy process rather than centering elected officials, appointed officials or bureaucrats as the only sources of policy power. This book is written in the spirit of equity. In order to have equitable public policies the voices of those who are impacted by these policies need to be heard as “gaps exist between the services governments deliver and what citizens want or need” (Mintrom & Luetjens, 2018, pg. 122). This is not simply a matter of contributing to policy discourse, but perhaps more importantly, a matter of contributing to the design, development and evaluation of public policy. Further, it is about holding policy makers and other decision makers accountable for their actions and the results of the actions. This book draws from lessons learned from my practical experiences, teaching and research. It is my hope that it equips those on the front lines of public policy and social equity with the tools needed to be effective producers and consumers of public policy ideas.https://scholar.utc.edu/open-textbooks/1003/thumbnail.jp

Grandfather Great Spirit, for Men\u27s Chorus and Pipe Organ

Written for De Profundis Men’s Ensemble of Albuquerque, David Poole, Director, which premiered it June 29, 2009, with organist James Rasmussen. The text (a Sioux prayer) is in the public domain: Grandfather Great Spirit, all over the world the faces of living ones are alike.With tenderness they have come up out of the ground.Look upon your children, that they may face the winds and walk the good road to the Day of Quiet.Grandfather Great Spirit, give us the strength to understand.Fill us with the light that we may walk the soft earth as relatives of all that live

My Programmatic Music

I wrote this as an e-mail answer to a question from Jennifer Garrett as she prepared her doctoral paper on my music. It was an attempt to explain why and when I decided to use programmatic titles/content in my music

My Journal Entries About Seshukwa

Entries from my personal journal about my visits to Seshukwa, an unexcavated Anasazi city on San Juan Mesa, in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico. The place had a vital effect on my creative output, especially Petroglyph for Strings, Dawn at San Juan Mesa, and Seshukwa: Eagle Dwelling Place

Two New Mexico Nocturnes for Piano

Written for a concert of works by Mauldin and George Willink on the Corrales Concert Series, Corrales NM. Premiered by Mauldin, April 18, 1993, San Ysidro Church, Corrales NM. Corrales is near the historic route from Albuquerque to Santa Fe. The first nocturne is warm and singing. It recalls evening gatherings and concerts in the “city different.” Corrales is located in the bosque, the gallery-forest in the flood-plain of the Rio Grande. The bosque at night can be a “spooky” place

Three Views From Space: Intermediate Piano Solos

Mauldin wrote these solos for his early-intermediate piano students. The three impressions were inspired by the statements of astronauts—from a variety of nations and cultures—regarding the ways that seeing the earth from space deepened their love of and concern for the earth

Composing Music in the Twenty-First Century

If what we write is too predictable, we lose the audience. If it’s too unpredictable, we lose the audience. Part of a composer\u27s prime directive (but his playful joy too) is to constantly search for a balance between same and different

What Wondrous Love Is This: Solo Piano Arrangement

This solo-piano arrangement of the American Folk Hymn was requested by Mauldin’s friend, pianist Robert Donald Haigler, for a service prelude he presented August 4, 2013 at Furman University in South Carolina during a Furman Singers Reunion. The melody was derived from an English popular ballad, and it first appeared as a hymn in “The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion,” 1835 (now public domain)