I was given the great treat yesterday of participating in a surprise Christmas "gift" presentation - virtually, of course. The members of the Trinity Baptist Church Orchestra in Raleigh, North Carolina, commissioned me to create an orchestra arrangement as a gift to their Worship/Music Pastor, Mr. Steve Byers. The arrangement is of the old American hymn tune "NETTLETON", which most know as "Come, Thou Fount Of Every Blessing" - one of Steve's favorite hymns. They surprised him during a group Zoom call and allowed me to be a guest for the presentation. It was incredibly heart warming to see the love each of these individuals have for one another and an honor to be part of the process. 

A premiere performance will have to wait, of course, until the pandemic subsides enough for groups to safely gather, rehearse and perform - something for ALL of us to look forward to sometime this next year. For all commissions that I fulfill, I grant exclusive usage of the work to the commissioning individual or group for a period of time up to a year. So this piece will be publicly available for purchase late in 2021.