A MESSAGE FROM SCOTT ABOUT COMMISSIONS
Hello, visitor! Thanks so much for your interest in my music.
I am very lucky to have been asked to compose many pieces in many different styles for many different occasions and purposes. While I have enjoyed taking on such a diverse array of projects, I have felt an increasing desire over the past several years to focus my work. After an extended period of soul-searching and many thoughtful conversations with friends I trust and respect, I have arrived at some decisions about what and how I will compose. I’ve decided to direct my creative energy into projects that speak to me in a deeply personal way and that reflect some of my strongest beliefs and convictions. I’ve also revised my fee structure in the hope that anyone will be comfortable approaching me to compose something for them. I invite you to read on and to ask me any questions you might have. You can contact me using the form at the bottom of this page.
SUBJECT MATTER
Although I am open to other topics, the majority of my new works will directly address causes and purposes about which I feel particularly passionate. Some of these are:
Empathy, compassion, love, and altruism.
Peace, mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation.
Human rights, social justice, equity, intersectionality, and issues facing LGBTQ people, especially LGBTQ youth (e.g., bullying, suicide, coming of age).
Environmentalism, environmental justice, and sustainability.
Animal rights, anti-speciesism, anti-carnism, and anti-hunting.
Connectedness, harmony, balance, responsibility.
I am especially interested in working with you if your mission centers around any of these causes, or if you have a history of supporting any of these causes. I am also very happy to write music for Christmas, simply because of the nostalgia I feel for the season!
MEDIA AND STYLE
I have drawn the most artistic satisfaction and the most meaningful feedback from my vocal works, and I would like to focus the majority of my output on choral music (unaccompanied or accompanied by any ensemble), opera, oratorio, cantatas, monodramas, and song cycles. I am especially interested in extended works (e.g., lasting 20 or more minutes) that support and illuminate the words of living authors. I am also grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with artists working in any medium.
My musical language varies from work to work, and even within works, in order to reflect the meaning of the text. However, I have decided that my new work will place a greater focus on general accessibility and simplicity. My style can be characterized by its lyricism, modal influences, tonal centricity, tertian harmony, and metric flexibility through additive rhythms. Benjamin Britten, Thomas Tallis, Sigur Rós, and Arvo Pärt have influenced the techniques and the sound of some of my music.
FEES AND REQUIREMENTS
I believe that anyone should be able to commission music, regardless of how much or little money they have. Therefore, I have decided to adopt a “pay-what-you-can” model for taking on creative projects. In a society that does not properly support its artists financially, offering art for free often begets exploitation, so I do ask for some compensation (a monetary and/or reciprocal exchange) for my work. I appreciate it especially if the fee covers the costs of obtaining the permission to set to music texts under copyright. However, I will not set any fee that prohibits a person or an organization I respect from asking me to create something that advances a cause I support.
I do ask two things of anyone who commissions me to write something. Firstly, I want our collaboration to be heard, so please have at least one performance of the piece planned (ensemble, venue, and approximate date). Secondly, I want to share our collaboration widely, so please make arrangements to provide me with a recording of a live or studio performance. The recording does not need to be professionally produced, but it should be of sufficiently high quality that I can present it publicly.
STARTING A CONVERSATION
If you would like to discuss the possibility of commissioning me to write an original piece of music for you, your ensemble, or your organization, please don’t hesitate to contact me! Let me know who you and/or your organization are, your concept for the piece in as much or as little detail as you’d like, why you’d like the piece, details about the premiere performance, and when you’d need the score. I do get many requests, so I may not be able to honor yours immediately, but I would love to have a conversation with you. Please contact me using the form below. I usually reply within a few days. Serious requests only, please.