From 2020 - 2023, I focused a significant amount of my time on projects that were often grand, epic, and even theatrical in both scale and size. With that came an intense period of burnout that I had never before felt in my life - one which had finally sapped so much of my creative energy over time. I had come to a point where I felt that I could no longer write any meaningful music for either myself or my community. Why bother, when everyone else is doing this better than you?

Imposter syndrome is awful.

After a significant amount of much-needed rest and healing, this collection of relatively shorter pieces became the first original musical work I've created in quite some time (one which didn't involve me arranging my own catalog, or other pieces, for various ensembles). After moving in a completely different - and renewed - creative direction from my past endeavors in 2020, this altogether newer musical direction in 2023 feels to me like a re-renewal of creative energy.

Hence, the title of this book.

Written for flute and piano, "RE: RENEW" is a fragmented scrap book of different emotional states, ideas, and styles. It pulls from my greatest recent inspirations, from jazz and folk to classical and everything in between. It then weaves together a narrative of abstract memories and casual observations of the world - commentaries abound on road trips, how any sort of change impacts us all, dealing with the superficial dangers of social media, and enjoying all there is to still enjoy in life.

I'm not who I once was, but I feel more confident and comfortable with who I am, what I want, and what matters to me most. My life is better for it, and so it's my sincerest hope that those who perform this book (or any of the numbers from it) will feel that they have the same, or an even greater, level of confidence about themselves and what matters to them the most.

My sincerest gratitude to my longtime friend and colleague, Dr. Emily Dierickx, for the opportunity to write this book for an upcoming collaborative project.