A setting of James Weldon Johnson's poem "The Creation" from the collection God's Trombones. Composed for five voices acting the preacher, the deacon, and three evangelists.

A spiritual setting on grief for SATB chorus, combing Negro spirituals "I Feel Like My Time Ain't Long" and "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child." The work was premiered in 2006 by the University Singers at University of Memphis in Memphis, TN.

a dream deferred

These six Langston Hughes settings for baritone and piano were composed while studying under John Baur at Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music in Memphis, Tennessee. The song cycle consists of Hughes poetry selected to tell the story of a protagonist dreaming of becoming an artist in a utopia of racial justice and harmony before that dream is deferred by hunger, discrimination, and violence at the hands of the klan. The protagonist looks back, barely able to hold on to their dreams, and receives a resurgence of spirit, reclaiming their power in defiance of oppression.

The audio below contains excerpts from the 2010 premiere.