Dan's Blog
SATB Choral Anthem: Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee with Asifiwe Bwana
Recently, I had a director ask me how my and Heidi's unique setting of Joyful, Joyful with Asifiwe Bwana came to be. So here is the story behind this unique arrangement. Randy Edwards, the director of YouthCUE, asked me to compose some new choral pieces in...
Jesus, In His Own Words in Washington DC
Heidi and I were blessed to attend the YouthCUE Nation’s Capital performance of In His Own Words on June 29th, 2008. This concert featured a chorus comprised of almost 300 teenagers (from seven states and six denominations) accompanied by an full orchestra comprised...
Psalm 13 Choral Anthem: Your Unfailing Love
On September 1st of 2007, Heidi's extended family gathered together for the burial of her Aunt Julie’s ashes. Auntie Julie, as we called her, died on November 3rd, 2006 after a year-long battle with cancer. She was only fifty-four. Even after almost a year of grieving...
Welch’s TV commercial with Alton Brown
Just after I finished composing and producing music for the two Great Western Bank spots, I was contacted by my good friend Stephen Yarbrough. Stephen was the professor of theory and composition at the University of South Dakota. He had been contacted by ViaGroup, a...
Great Western Bank Commercials
In the summer of 2008, I had the opportunity to score two commercials for Great Western Bank. This is my first opportunity to compose and produce original music for television broadcast commercials. One of the distinctive features of these two spots is that they both...
Working in the Music Industry
Right after I graduated from college, I wanted to try and find employment as a working composer, arranger, and/or orchestrator. So I packed up my things and moved to Nashville, Tennessee. My first few years there, I struggled to make ends meet as I worked, on a...