Length: 7 minutes
Composed: 2010
World Premiere: May 21, 2010. New Music Project. Kalamazoo, Michigan

Program Note: My music is generally formed by combining elements from rock and other popular music genres with ideas from contemporary classical and avant-garde music. Due to my training in classical institutions, I have generally worked with ensembles and instruments derived from the European classical tradition. Zipper Metropolis grew out of my desire to compose a piece from the opposite direction, using rock instrumentation as the basis, while still integrating ideas from classical music and the avant-garde. It was great fun to actually write out a real score for a rock band (not just a lead sheet), and I hope to write more pieces like this in the future. I think there should be rock bands commissioning works from contemporary composers, just like string quartets or piano trios. This piece is in two parts played without a break, the first is entitled “Field of Play” and the second “Devastating and Ruthlessly Efficient”.