Wind Ensemble

Brass Choir

Choir

Solo Works

Music for Two

Chamber Music for Larger Ensembles

Tip of the Spear (2019) for trombone choir (8 parts: 6 tenor, 2 bass)
Heroic Brew (2018) for horn choir (6 parts)
Moonlight Rhapsody (2016) for oboe, viola, and piano
Up To No Good (2015) for woodwind quintet
Homage (2014) for trumpet sextet
Inosculation (2014) for string quartet
Compressionism (2012) for trumpet sextet
Cross Face Cradle (2010) for clarinet, trumpet, viola, piano, and percussion

Duration: 10’00”

First seven score pages (pdf)

Excerpt 1            Excerpt 2             Excerpt 3             Excerpt 4             Excerpt 5

Or to hear a full recording, click here to go to soundcloud.

More than any other piece I have written to date, Cross Face Cradle more freely integrates the many styles and compositional techniques that influence me as a listener. If there is a place in my head where the hypnotic soundspaces of Boulez and Dutilleux, the additive motivic development of Stravinsky, and the rhythmic drive and energy of Higdon mingle with alternative rock, the Bang on a Can movement, and even Dixieland, then Cross Face Cradle is the aural depiction of that place. The composition is dominated by two main themes. The first emphasizes the perfect fourth above tonal center, while the second repeats its pitch sequence over and over, adding one more pitch each time. Both themes recur throughout the piece but in different guises. The work concludes with a reflective section manipulating pulse and expectation.

Cross Face Cradle was commissioned by the Kentucky Center’s Governor School for the Arts Faculty Quintet and was premiered in June 2010 during the annual three-week camp for some of the state’s most talented high school students. The title refers to a wrestling move and harkens back to my days as a high school wrestler. I wanted to capture (and share with those students) how I felt inside at that time: a little crazy and a little wild under the surface.  

Contact the composer directly to inquire about score/parts: mikedambrosio@gmail.com

Ice Town (2009) for trumpet sextet
OK, Then AL (2005) for brass quintet
The Belfry (2001) for woodwind quintet and vibraphone
The Last Sunset (2000) for trumpet, trombone, and piano
Poetics (1999) for flute, clarinet, bassoon, piano, and marimba
What Love Tells Me (1999) for 2 horns and organ
Prelude and Scherzo (1995) for brass quintet