Works for Violin Solo

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• Frenetic Unfoldings - 1998

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      Begun in March of 1998, John dedicated this work to Darel Stark, associate principal violinist for the Honolulu Symphony.  

      This is his first atonal work and his first composition for solo violin. Darel premiered Frenetic Unfoldings at the Lutheran                 Church of Honolulu on February 12, 2000.

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• Metamorphosis N° 3 - Just Do It – 2001 ​

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      Darel Stark premiered this work on 11-6-2004 during the composer's 50th birthday party. 

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• Il Coltello nella Piaga (The Slow Knife Twist) - 2005

      (Part 7 of Romantica Passione Suite for Guitar and Violin)

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• Metamorphosis Nº 11 (Violin Mirrors) - 2005

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• Prevalent Ruptured Schisms - 2009

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     Premiered by Darel Stark in Honolulu at the Musician’s Union Studio on 8/13/2010.

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• Symmetry in Motion – 2013

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Works for Guitar

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 Metamorphosis No. 10 for Guitar Solo – 2004  

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 Nel Giardino della Delezie - 2005 - (In The Garden of Delights)

 (Part 6 of Romantica Passione Suite for Guitar and Violin)

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 Guitar Suite No. 1 - Saggese Guitar Suite (Homage to Paganini) – 2006-7

   Movements I-IV

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    Dedicated to Christian Saggese, who won First Prize in the Andres Segovia International Guitar Competition in                               Almunecar, Spain (1999).  This solo guitar suite was premiered in Honolulu by Christian at The rRed Elephant Cafe on

    September 22, 2007.

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 Guitar Preludes - 2007-8 

•  Preludi Italiani - No. 1 - The Translucent Robe

•  Preludi Italiani - No. 2 - Zio Pesce

•  Preludi Italiani - No. 3 - The Tai Chi Set

•  Preludi Italiani - No. 4 - Studio

•  Preludi Italiani - No. 5 - IM Voices

•  Preludi Italiani - No. 6 - Nella Distinta Umori

•  Preludi Italiani - No. 7 - Acoustic Voices (Serenade for Sharon)

•  Preludi Italiani - No. 8 - I Wish I Could Have Met Joseph Haydn - for two 8-string guitars

•  Preludi Italiani - No. 9 - Suzi, Do Notes Really Matter? - for two 8-sting guitars

 

 Guitar Etude No.1 for 6-String Guitar (The Great Divide) - 2008

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   A commission dedicated to John McLaren. All proceeds went to Hawaii Public Radio.

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Guitar Etudes for Two 10-String Guitars - 2008

• No. 2 - The Past is the Present

• No. 3 - No Sprinkles Involved

• No. 4 - Post Minimalist Nausea

• No. 5 - The Basic MO

• No. 6 - Sliding to Nirvana

• No. 7 - The City of 100 Spires

• No. 8 - That Old Confident Strut

• No. 9 - What Now?

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 Guitar Etude for 10-String Guitar - That Old Confident Strut - 2009

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 Fantasia and Semi-Passacaglia for Guitar Solo - 2009 

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 Guitar Petite Suite No. 1 - (Let Freedom Ring) for Guitar Solo – 2014-15​ 

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    A work in 6 sections dedicated to Cinzia and Christian Saggese celebrating freedom of expression in everyday life. 

    Revised June, 2017

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 Guitar Petite Suite No. 2 - Spring into Thin Air for Guitar Solo – 2017​

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    A work in 4 sections in remembrance of Dr. William Dresser celebrating the dance of life through thin air. 

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 Humoresque for Guitar and Small Orchestra - 2018

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    A wedding gift for Chris and Cinzia

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 Music For Solo Guitar - Book 1 - 2019  (revised 2020)

• Dance of the Ambassador Suites Inhabitants (for the ghost of John Fahey)

• Preludio Sentimentale (for Chris and Cinzia) 

• Dramma Giocoso 

• Humoresque

• Impresiones Intimas No. 1

• Just For A Lark (Petite Suite)

• The Orangutan Shuffle

• Impresiones Intimas No. 2

• Diamonds on a River of Tears

• For Chris

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 Music For Solo Guitar - Book 2 - 2020  

• Zero-Sum Games

• The Chase

• Giorni della Corona

• Duplicitous and Fickle

• Hold That Thought

• That's an Understatement

• The Fates That Hound Us Couldn't Wish Our Love Away

• His Gracious Talk Bewitches Me

• Just Like I Knew What I Was Doing

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Chamber Music

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 Woodwind Quintet No. 1 in 3 Movements - 1998

• May I Have An Alchemist?

• My Dreams Lie Just Above the Horizon

• The Transfiguration of Giovanni Baudino

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    This is John's first chamber piece.  Revised in 2012.

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 Quartet No. 1 for Clarinet in b-flat, Violin, Cello and Piano (A Worded Grey Anigma) - 2000 

• It’s Not Discernible

• It’s the Only Possibility

• Forms of Order

• Be Indescribable!

• Danseur Kanzuke

• Chamber Music Becomes Him 

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   Over 1,700 collectible items, including signed first editions, hand-made dolls and original art can be found in the John A.                Carollo/Edward Gorey Collection at the University of Hawaii, Hamilton Library.  

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 Piano Trio No. 1 for Piano, Violin and Cello - 2001

   Movements I-IV

  

   Dedicated to John's father, Anthony J. Carollo, who was terminally ill and living with the composer when the first movement

   of this work was composed.  The Finale is dedicated to the passengers of Flight 93, 9-11-2001.   

   Revised April, 2012.

 

   Trio Casals premiered this work on Saturday, May 9, 2015 at Philips Autograph Library, West Chester University of                          Pennsylvania, West Chester, PA.  A live performance at Carnegie Hall was held on May 12, 2015

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 Duet for Violin and Double Bass - 2002

   Movements I-III

  

    A request by Darel Stark, associate principal violinist for the Honolulu Symphony.

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 Trio for Piano, Guitar and Violin - 2002​

  Movements I-III

  

   Dedicated to Duo46 [Matt Gould, guitarist, and Beth Schneider, violinist] and Nathanael May, pianist.  Duo46 and Nathanael          May premiered the 3rd Movement on 7/21/2006 at the Monty del Parterre Amphitheater, Cortona, Italy.

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 Quartet No. 2 for Clarinet in b-flat, Violin, Cello and Piano - 2003-4

• The Dauntless Journey Part I (Intrepido)

• The Dauntless Journey Part II (Tranquillo)

• The Dauntless Journey Part III (Viaggio Sentimentale)

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   This 3-movement work is a continuation of the experiments of Quartet No.1. Revised May, 2013.

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 Romantica Passione Suite for Guitar and Violin – 2004

• Volere (Desire)

• Un Forte Amore (Tenacious Love)

• Romanzo! (Romance!) - Premiered on 7/17/2006 at the Hotel Oasi, Cortona, Italy, by Duo46.

• Splendido Affare (Splendid Affair) - Premiered on 7/17/2006 at the Hotel Oasi, Cortona, Italy, by Duo46.

• La Tortura dell' Amore (The Torture of Love) - Premiered on 7/21/2006, Monti del Parterre Amphitheater, Cortona, 

      Italy, by Duo 46.

• Il Coltello nella Piaga (The Slow Knife Twist) for Solo Violin - Premiered by Darel Stark at Studio 909, Musician’s Union, 

      in Honolulu on 1/9/2010.

• Nel Giardino Della Delezie (In The Garden of Delights) for Solo Guitar

• Un Giorno Teso (Tension Rules the Day) - Premiered on 7/21/2006 at the Monti del Parterre Amphitheater, Cortona, Italy, 

      by Duo46.

• Eterna Riconciliazione (Eternal Reconciliation) 

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    John dedicated this 9-movement work to Duo46, Matt Gould and Beth Schneider.  It tells a story in music about romantic                love and of all of its emotional entanglements.

  

 Trio for Flute, Cello and Piano (Robust Constructs) - 2005

• With Moderate Determination

• With Elegance and Grace

• With Serious Determination 

 

   Trio Xia premiered this work at Orvis Auditorium in Honolulu, Hawaii on October 1, 2005.

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 Fear of ANGST for Flute, Cello, and Piano - 2006

• Beware

• Beware of Fear

• Beware of Those Who Preach Fear 

 

   Composed for Trio Xia after a request for a 2nd composition. 

 

 Burlesque for Trumpet in B-flat and Classical Guitar - 2007

• The Honolulu Stomp 

• Baile, Baile Me Hermosa Rosa 

• Luca Has a Cadenza 

• Life is a Strange Instrument (the most difficult and beautiful when played well) 

• Rosa Discovers a Strange Instrument (Finale)

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 String Quartet No. 1 - 2008

• Historical Facts & Folly

• Nothing Shall Come of This

• Another Political Experiment Gone Wrong

• A Cubist Point of View

• Awaken! Citizens of the World!

• The Great Divide

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 The One That Got Away for Violin, Guitar and Piano - 2008

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   This is an instrumental re-working of a song that was not used from the Blake Song-Cycle of 2007.

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 Moravian Sax in the Afternoon (for Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Baritone Saxophone) - (Quartet No. 3) - 2008

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   Composed for the Erie Saxophone Quartet after a request.  

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 String Quintet No. 1 (for 10-String Guitar and String Quartet) - 2008

• Both Sides of the Divide

• The Boundary Wall

• Divide and Conquer 

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 The Great Divide for String Quintet (for 10-String Guitar and String Quartet) - 2009

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 Impressions of The Conclave for Bass Quartet (for Bassoon, Bass Clarinet, Baritone Sax and Tuba) - 2009 

   (Quartet No. 4) 

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   Composed for The Bass Quartet in Sicily after a request.

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 Chronicles of a Whipped Creamer for Brass Quintet - 2009

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   A collaboration with fellow composer Robert Werhman.

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 Honolulu to Helsinki for Guitar and Piano - 2011

• Animato 

• Con moto

• Dolce - In memory of Michael Burdett

• Con Passione

• Dolcemente

• Tranquillo - for Solo Piano

• Tender - for Solo Guitar

• (untitled)

• Passionately

 

 Celloistic Impressions (Quartet No. 5) - for four cellos - 2012

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   For the Glendale Philharmonic Orchestra, after a request by the President of the Executive Board, Diane Acosta.

 

 The Genius of the Crowd for flute, oboe, clarinet in b-flat, xylophone, piano, violin and cello - 2012

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 And It Came to Pass for 2 violins, viola, cello and bass - 2012

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 Duet for Violin and Piano - 2013

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 Duet for Flute and Piano - 2013

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 String Quartet No. 2 (Ruleless Infinity) - 2013 

• I.

• II.

• III.  The Last Days on Earth Music I

• IV.  The Last Days on Earth Music II

• V.   The Last Days on Earth Music III

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 In Your Hour of Need  (Your Soul Now Travels the Cosmic Waves) for Flute, Bassoon, Horn in f, Xylophone, Piano and Cello - 2014

 

   Dedicated to William K. Dresser, M.D.  (4-3-24 to 3-8-14) 

 

 Piano Trio No. 2 - (Catalogue of Observations) - 2015

• Adherence to Dogma

• Reflections Upon a Velvet Blue Lake

• Frolicking in the Wilderness

• Apophenia

• Are You Much Given to Melodrama?

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 Sextet for Clarinet in b-flat, Bassoon, Horn in f, Tuba, Piano and Cello (How Many Times?) – 2016-17

• Dark and Brooding - Animato 

• Humoresque

• Con Energico Ritmico

• Lento

• Felicemente - Prudente

• Animato

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 Quintet for Alto Sax, Bassoon, Horn in f, Piano and Violin (Cleo's Boardwalk Strut ) - 2017

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 The Nomadic Composer for Clarinet in b-flat, Bassoon, Piano, Violin and Cello - 2018

• Change is Home

• Change is Your Teacher

• Being and Dissolve

• Portland Bound

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 Caffeine and Cortisol for Brass Choir - 2018

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 Longinus, On Sublimity - for Oboe, Clarinet in b-flat, Bassoon, Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello - 2019

• Great Thoughts

• Noble Diction

• Strong Emotions

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 String Quartet No. 3 (Quantum Dice) -  2019  

• I - Misterioso - God Does Not Play Dice with the Universe

• II - Andantino

• III - Intenso

• IV - Appassionata

• V - Vivace - Lawless Indeterminism and Uncertainty Shall Not Be

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 The Black Swan Effect for Woodwind Quintet - 2020

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 Quartet for Tenor Sax, Vibraphone, Piano and Double Bass - (Quartet No. 6) - 2020

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Song Cycles

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Exhortation! for Voice, Piano and Violin - 1999 (based on the poetry of Charles Bukowski)

• The Genius of the Crowd [Voice and Piano] 

• Counsel [Voice and Piano] 

• The Laughing Heart [Voice and Piano] 

• It's Not Who Lived Here [Voice and Violin] 

• Vocalise [Voice and Violin] 

• These Things [Voice, Piano and Violin] 

• A Trick to Dull Our Bleeding [Voice, Piano and Violin] 

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    "It's Not Who Lived Here" and "Vocalise" was premiered on April 28, 2001 at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu by the Stark            Duo, Darel Stark, violin and Georgine Stark, soprano voice. Revised in September, 2013.

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 Awake Humanity to Nature's Beauty! for Soprano, Guitar, Cello and Piano - 2007 (based on the poetry of William Blake)

• Prologue (for guitar and piano) 

• To Morning (for soprano, guitar and piano) – dedicated to Satoshi 

• Memory, Hither Come (for soprano and guitar) 

• Innocence and Virtue Meet (for soprano, guitar, piano and cello) 

• Awake Humanity to Nature's Beauty! (for guitar and piano) 

• A Cradle Song (for soprano) 

• To The Evening Star (for soprano and piano) – dedicated to Sharon Selman 

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Works for Orchestra

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 Anguish in Every Household – 2008-10

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 The Transfiguration of Giovanni Baudino for Piano and Orchestra – 2008-10

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 Do You Have an E.R. for Music? - 2012

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 Symphony No. 1 – 2012-13

• I.   Passing On Ancient Skills 

• II.  Historical Facts and Folly 

• III. Ancestral Devotions - (The World is like a Single Point) 

• IV. Unmasking the Past 

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   This work is for Mary Carollo (Guaspari), with much love forever.

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 The Dancing Multiverse String Revival Sessions (Orchestral Suite I) - 2013

• I.   In A Cartesian Space

• II.  Ancestral Dreams

• III. Sightless

• IV. Everything is 9

• V.  Symmetry in Motion

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 Symphony No. 2 - (The Circle of Fire) - 2013

• I.   A Recording is the Antithesis of his Aesthetic

• II.  Line and Polyphony

• III. The Rein Which Resists Allegory Run Riot

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 Let Freedom Ring - 2015

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   Music from the 5th part of the Guitar Suite of the same name.  

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 Awakenings (Orchestral Suite II) - 2015-16​

• I.   Awake from a Dream

• II.  Wake Up to Who You Are

• III. Being and Becoming

• IV. We Live in Our Imaginations

• V.  The Great Awakening (1740-1742)

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 The Processional - 2017​

• I.  Andante

• II. Solenne

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 Symphony No. 3 - 2017​

• I.   To Morning

• II.  Gestural Rituals

• III. In The Garden of Earthly Delights

           Part 1 - The Craving

           Part 2 - The Quest

           Part 3 - The Seduction

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 Music From the Ethereal Side of Paradise for Chamber Orchestra - 2017

•  I.   Leggera e Ariosa (The Dream Curator)

•  II.  Suspensefully Drammatico (Frolicsome Cleo)

•  III. Tranquillo (The Repository of Dreams)

•  IV. Intenso (Busy Becoming Something)

•  V.  Meditazione Lenta (On the Slopes of Mauna Kea)

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 Orchestra Concerto: Longinus, On Sublimity - 2019

• Maestoso, Intenso  (Great Thoughts)

• Spirito, Calma (Noble Diction)

• Intenso, Cantabile, Drammatico (Strong Emotions)

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 Symphony No. 4 - 2020

• I.   The Fertile Mind 

• II.  The Deep Understanding

• III. The Cultivated Taste

• IV. The Prodigy 

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Hello Thanatos, Eros Calling (Orchestral Suite III) - 2020-2021

• I. The Fusion 

• II. Carving Higher Ideals (The Desire to Create)

• III. Opening the Box of Dreams

• IV. Dionysian Currents

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Works for Band

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 Transcendence in the Age of War – 2004-09 (In Memory of 9-11) 

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 Appeasement and Containment – (The Lies Fly By) - 2018 

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 Caffeine and Cortisol – (Stimulate, Activate, Motivate) - 2018 

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 No Taste for Fornication (for Maxon Crumb) - 2020

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Works for String Orchestra

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 Desiderio (Dedicated to Joan Wehrman) – 2004

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 Let Thy Mind Be Still - after a Taoist meditation by Deng Ming-Doa. - 2009

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 Starry Night - after Van Gogh, Starry Night over the Rhone 1888, Mussee d’Orsay, Paris - 2009

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 Nothing Shall Come of This (A Lament for Unheard Music) - 2009

  “Unheard music is more valuable than music heard.”  JAC 

 

 Bright Stillness (You Are My Desire) - 2013

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 Awakenings - 2013

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 The Rhetoric and Mythos of Belief - 2014​

• Part I -   Profondo

• Part II -  Animato - Largo

• Part III - Tranquillo - (Existential Loneliness, as a background for joy and sorrow)

• Part IV - Misterioso/Meditativo (Bill's Memorial Piece - Your Heart Rests Within Mine)

• Part V -  Intenso

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   This 5 movement work for String Orchestra is dedicated to the life work of William K. Dresser, M.D. who treated persons with s      severe mental illness with loving care and respect in the State of Hawaii for over 20 years.

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 Move Towards the Light (Your Destiny Awaits You) - 2015

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 Seeds of Doubt - 2018

 

  Premiered by the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra on 8-13-2020.

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 Quantum Dice (God Does Not Play Dice with the Universe) - 2019​​

 

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Works for Chorus

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 Music for Choir (Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass) - 2012 (for Bill)

    (From John’s poetry set to music)

• Little Gems

• Crafted Stardust

• Metamorphosis

• One Note at a Time

• She Saw the Rainbow

• Moon Dust

• Resonance

• On The Way to a Sunset

• Metamorphosis No. 9

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 Jade Ponds - 2017

   A reverent journey through nature.  The poem, Jade Ponds, written by the composer (2001) and set to music.

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 Music for Choir and Orchestra: Goethe - 2019 - 2020

•  Erlkong  (c. 1782) 

•  Welcome and Farewell  (1771; 1789)

•  Extract from Unbounded  (1814-15) - (First Stanza)

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   Poems by Goethe set to music and translated to English: from The Essential Goethe,  Edited by Matthew Bell, Princeton                University Press, 2016.

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 Rosebud in the Heather (1771) - 2020 

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   A poem by Goethe set to music and translated to English: from The Essential Goethe,  Edited by Matthew Bell, Princeton              University Press, 2016.  For children to sing.

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 Transcendence After Loss for Choir, Piano, Harp, Horn in F, Tuba and Cello (2020) (based on the poetry of Andrea Hollander)

• Epigraph from Landscape with Female Figure for Soprano Voice

• Extract from "Still Life with Jonquils" for SATB and Harp

• Extract from "Love Song Ending with a Line by Horace" for SATB and Piano

• Grief - for SATB, Piano, Horn in F, Tuba, and Cello

• What I Will Be When I Cannot Be with You for Soprano, SATB, Piano and Harp

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    All titles are from Landscape with Female Figure: New & Selected Poems, 1982-2012 (Autumn House Press, 2013).  Set to               music with permission from the author.

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​ Dark Days for Choir and Orchestra (Excerpts from John's poem set to music) - 2020

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Songs

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 The Lady Who Loves the Bass - 2007 

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   Scored for alto voice and double bass.

   Lyrics, John A. Carollo 

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 Requiem Aeternam Dona Eis - 2014 (in memory of Bill)

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   Scored for alto voice and piano.

   John's poem 'For the Dearly Departed' (2013) set to music.

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 A Time Not Long Ago  – 2018 

 

   Scored for MS and SATB with Clarinet in B-flat, Cornet, Tuba, Violin, Cello and Piano.   

   John's poem of the same name set to music

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Transcriptions

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 Metamorphosis N° 7 for Two Guitars - 2002 (transcription by Christian Saggese) 

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 Guitar Preludes (for six-string guitar)  - 2010

• Preludi Italiani - No. 8 - I Wish I Could Have Met Joseph Haydn 

• Preludi Italiani - No. 9 - Suzi, Do Notes Really Matter? 

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 Guitar Etudes for 6-String Guitar -2009-10 

• No. 2 - The Past is the Present

• No. 3 - No Sprinkles Involved

• No. 4 - Post Minimalist Nausea

• No. 5 - The Basic MO

• No. 6 - Sliding to Nirvana

• No. 7 - The City of 100 Spires 

• No. 8 - That Old Confident Strut

• No. 9 - What Now?

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 String Quartets - 2011

• Nothing Shall Come of This for String Quartet

• Starry Night for String Quartet

• Let Thy Mind Be Still for String Quartet

• Desediero for String Quartet

• Honolulu to Helsinki for String Quartet

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 Honolulu to Helsinki for Solo Piano - 2011

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   After a request by pianist, Anne Ku

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 Awake Humanity to Nature’s Beauty! - Violin Version - for Soprano, Violin, Cello and Piano - 2011

• Prologue

• To Morning

• Memory, Hither Come

• Innocence and Virtue Meet

• Awake Humanity to Nature’s Beauty!

• A Cradle Song

• To the Evening Star

• True Love Doth Pass Away!

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   Premiered by the Stark Duo, Hawaii Symphony violinist Darel Stark and mezzo soprano Georgine Stark, with pianist Sachi P.            Hirakouji and cellist I-Bei Lin on August 25, 2012, at the Hawaii PBS Radio Station, Honolulu.

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The Greatest Medicine is the Emptiness of Everything for String Orchestra - 2012 - Revised 2020

   (To the memory of COVID-19 victims)

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 The Greatest Goodness is a Peaceful Mind for String Orchestra - 2012 - Revised 2020

   (To the memory of COVID-19 victims)

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 Carollo's Baroque Duets for Violin and Cello - 2018

• Victim of His Constructs

• Do You Know Who You Are?

• Minuet I-IV

• It's All in the Genes

• Elusive Truth 

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 Music for Two Guitars - Zero-Sum Games - 2020

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 Music for Two Guitars - The Chase - 2020

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Miscellaneous 

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 Invention (Homage to J.S. Bach) - for harpsichord - (Invention No. 6) - 1998

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 Metamorphosis 

• N° 1 for Solo Viola - 2001

• N° 2 for Solo Viola - Return to Tranquility - 2001

• N° 4 for Solo Cello - 2001

• N° 5 for Solo English Horn - 2001 (in memory of the tragic events of 9-11-01) 

• Nº 12 for Solo Tuba - 2005

         Dark Deceptions

         Secular Lies

         Torn Between Two Selves

• No. 13 for Solo Flute  (Let It Not Be in Vain) - 2006 - Premiered by Lisa Cella on 7/18/2006 at the Monti del Parterre Amphitheater, Cortona, Italy. 

• No. 14 for Solo Trumpet in C - 2011

• No. 15 for Harpsichord - 2013

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 Woodwind Quintet Sketch 

• No. 1 - 2001

• No. 2 - Back to Simplicity! - 2012

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 String Quartet Sketch No. 1 – 2001

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 Fanfare for Two Trumpets in C (10th Anniversary Honolulu Triathlon Fanfare) - 2013

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 Tango Americana - for Violin, Guitar and Piano - 2015

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 Fanfare for Four Trumpets in C - 2018

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