It is always an honor when a friend asks me to compose a work for his or her ensemble, but the significance is even greater when that friend is a composer and conductor that I admire. When Jack Stamp asked me to compose a work for the Symphony Band at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, it was understandably important to me to compose something special, something that would have meaning for both Jack and me. I hope I have succeeded.

Song for Lyndsay is a very personal work, with a great deal of meaning to me, but ideally with some significance for Jack and his ensemble as well. The musical materials for the work are mostly derived from a short piano piece that I wrote for my wife, Lyndsay, in 2005. Although the structure of the work is much more complex than its forerunner, Song for Lyndsay is still more than anything else a simple love song dedicated to Lyndsay and what she has meant in my life.