The Sketchbook is a musical story written in March of 2006. It is scored for narrator and octet, and was written with the intention to reach children as well as adults. In 2008 the composer created a teacher's guide so that the music and themes The Sketchbook presents could be shared with different student age groups. At the fundamental level it is a story of overcoming adversity including bullying.

You may purchase and download the Teacher's Guide CD below and download the accompanying Teacher's Guide PDF here.

You may purchase the Full CD "Pictures and Stories" featuring the full recording of The Sketchbook by visiting Amazon or Albany Records.

More About "The Sketchbook":

The Sketchbook is a musical story written in March of 2006. It is scored for narrator and octet, and was written with the intention to reach children as well as adults. The Sketchbook is the third and last piece composed in my role as composer-in-residence at the Cape May (NJ) Music Festival. The purpose of my residency was to compose music for the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts’ educational program titled Sights and Sounds, which sought to integrate the abstract artwork of children with contemporary composition. As composer-in-residence I interacted with the school children involved in the project. These visits allowed me to experience what art and creativity was and was not in the lives of these young people.

For this final work I wanted to write a work that told a story about the transformational role artistic creativity can have for a child. I also wanted to write a piece that spoke to children without in any way “writing down” to them. To start, I asked Jennifer Pullman a dedicated teacher in an inner-city school I visited, if she ever had a student for whom art had a great impact on his or her life. She described a student who “managed to stay focused art-wise in a class of rowdy, unfocused kids.” Jennifer gave him a sketchbook that he carried around constantly. In a very short time he completely filled it up, so she bought him a larger, better quality sketchbook into which he unleashed his imagination. The Sketchbook was inspired by Jennifer’s idea for the piece: “ I can envision a story forming from the simple act of providing a young artist with the basic tools he needs to show the world what is inside of him”.

I took this idea and created an original storyline, narrative text, and score. I also created a montage of selected student artwork that supported and enhanced the storyline. This montage was projected as the work was performed. The boy in my story is middle school aged, has a vivid imagination, but keeps it to himself. He “hears colors and sees sounds” and lives in the inner world of his drawings and paintings. The boy is bullied and taunted, but with the support of his art teacher he is transformed through “showing the world what is inside of him.”