Compositions
Got My Wings
This is the result of a 2-year project reflecting on the life and writings of the incarcerated Buddhist practitioner and author Jarvis Jay Masters. Featuring Westchester Ballet Company, choreography by Todd Hall and Tomiko Magario Got My Wings—Jan. 22, 2022...
Prologue: A New Normal
The piano solo, with score, that begins my latest Sunnyside release (2021) called Da Fé Played by Carmen Staaf (piano) and Leo Genovese (electronics)
New Release! Robert Dick & Dan Blake (Chant Records)
Laugh and Lie Down by Robert Dick and Dan BlakeI'm very happy to be a part of this new release with the legendary flutist and composer Robert Dick. Artwork by Sabina Hahn, and click the link above to read the notes by renowned journalist Allan Kozinn!
3 Moods (Film Music)
Here is some film music, which found a home in this Extinction Rebellion video on Citizens Assembly! Activism is becoming increasingly important to my creative work and I'm proud to serve this amazing organization musically. See that video here And hear the rest of...
This Bird Has Our Wings
Dedicated to Jarvis Jay Masters, who has been wrongly held on death row for many years and whose commitment to finding spiritual truth in the most difficult of circumstances (especially as an aging man living in prison during Covid-19) is a true inspiration....
Upasiva’s Question (2018)
Upasiva’s Question is a recent composition. This work sets one verse from the the Parayana (“Way to the Far Shore”), an ancient Buddhist text. The work will be premiered October 26 in Brooklyn, NY by Threeds, a Brooklyn-based oboe trio. Feel free to contact me to...
Agora – For Chamber Orchestra (2017)
Agora takes its name from David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, in which the author muses about a film that consists only of extras who, instead of mouthing and gesticulating silent dialogue in the background, are each fully heard as central protagonists in the story....
The Dust Moves – string quartet and animations (2015)
Commissioned by New Music USA and the Jerome Fund for New Music, this work was created for Mivos Quartet and imagines stillness within motion (and vice versa) as both a visual and sonic quality. The Dust Moves (full version/animations only) from Dan Blake on Vimeo....
Laggo [Stuck] – for quartet (2016)
Scored for flute, tenor saxophone, piano, and pitched percussion, this work was commissioned by Spring Roll in 2016. The piece invites players to get "stuck" and to find their way out with a variety of improvised structures.
Without Walls – excerpt
A semi-staged work for spoken word artist (feat. Jack Daniel/Daniel Jachym) and chamber ensemble. Commissioned by red light new music. This is one I am looking to expand upon in the future!
Zoetrope (piano and percussion)
Commissioned by "Doctor Faustus", this performance features the Talea Ensemble. The work tries to capture an old form of animation where the viewer peers inside a spinning wheel to see a contained series of moving images. Much of my work deals with the idea of...
Chromatic Object In A Room
Stop-motion animation by Troy Hagenbart
First Beginnings
Commissioned by recorder virtuoso Terri Hron, whose project "Bird On A Wire" called for solo recorder with surround sound interactive electronics. A very fun project!