This week, twelve of my new works made their début at Sheet Music Plus so today I wanted to share a peek into how four of these new works came to be.

Kumbaya, My Lord,

The frozen custard shop sitting at the end of my street serves very inventive flavors. A plain caramel swirl just isn’t creative enough for them so you’ll find things like caramel-peanut-butter-chocolate-covered-pretzel. Their over-the-top combinations provided inspiration for this zany, rhythmic piano arrangement of Kum Ba Yah which has musical chocolate syrup and nuts and sprinkles and whipped cream and (of course!) a cherry on top. Not for a meditative time during worship – it’s a fun prelude or postlude, especially for a Confirmation service. Find it at Sheet Music Plus.

I Vow to Thee, My Country (O God Beyond All Praising)

About a year and a half ago, I fell madly in love with this hymn and promised myself I would someday write a piano arrangement – especially since piano arrangements for this hymn are rare. The tune, from Gustav Holst’s symphony The Planets, is so beautiful on its own that I didn’t think it needed much embellishment (but I still gave it some.) This arrangement, starting gently and continually building until it reaches a majestic climax, would be ideal as a prelude or an offertory selection. Find it at Sheet Music Plus.

Revive Us Again

One Saturday morning, I was feeling stagnant with an arrangement I was working on so I sat down at the piano with a hymnal just to noodle around for a bit. With no intention of coming up with anything new, this arrangement found me. (Yep, you read that right.) Most settings of Revive Us Again are rollicking gospel versions but, being a rebel, I chose to keep this piano arrangement breezy – like the winds at the first Pentecost. Ironically, the motive you hear throughout this arrangement came from the stagnating arrangement – revived in this one instead. 😉 Find it at Sheet Music Plus.

The King of Love My Shepherd Is

This actually started out as a medley of four shepherd-themed hymns but I got lazy and arranged only one of them. (Just kidding.) Seriously, when I began working on the section in the medley that included this hymn, I found I had more than enough musical material to create a stand-alone arrangement. Starting with the simple yet beautiful Irish tune, I paired it with an original melody. Because it never gets forceful, this one is perfect for a wedding, a funeral, or a reflective time during worship. Find it at Sheet Music Plus.