Commissions

It is always an honor to be asked to write a commissioned work to commemorate a special occasion in the life of a church, school, community group, or in honor of an individual.

One way I love to work is to give the commissioning organization an opportunity to submit ideas for the text. This way you get a song that truly reflects your group (and/or your event). In this case, you would collect ideas / thoughts / even completed poems or texts from your group and send them to me. I then take these, create a custom text using their ideas, thoughts, and lines when possible, reserving the right to alter them as needed.

Because this is a custom work, specifically designed for your event and your group, I like to have as much information as possible about your group: optimal ranges, any special limitations or exceptional aspects, ability level of your singers and instrumentalist(s), etc. Also the special significance of your event, or the person(s) being honored by this song. Any and all info will be helpful.

My standard fee for a commission for a single song is $2500. For this price, I create a custom vocal score with keyboard accompaniment specifically for your group. If you wish to add instrumentation - strings, flute, custom orchestration, etc., single instruments add $100, keyboard $200; string orchestra, $500. For more complete orchestrations, we will discuss the fee based on the instruments you wish to use.

Typically half of the commission is paid as a deposit, and the balance upon delivery of the completed work. For this price, your school, church, or organization receives the right to premier the work and perform it as often as desired. I retain ownership of the copyright and all other rights, so that I might seek to have it published. If it is published, we would of course include the commissioning dedication at the top of the piece. Publishers are usually happy to include the name of your group, the event, etc. in this dedication.

From receipt of the deposit, I usually ask for 90 days to complete the work, but try to finish well ahead of that deadline to make any adjustments needed.

If you would like to discuss commissioning a new work, please contact me to share your vision and we can explore the possibilities together.