I was extremely honored when Chip DeStefano asked me to write a work for his fine ensemble. I have known Chip since we were both students at Northwestern University and have appreciated the wonderful work he has done with the McCracken Middle School Bands (Skokie, IL).

I wanted to write a piece that would be exciting and fun for his students to play, but would also treat the middle school ensemble as a viable medium for artistic expression. In other words, I wanted to compose a piece that was as serious and musical as I would write for a college ensemble, while still recognizing the necessary technical limitations of the age.

For some time, I had been considering writing a symphony for younger students, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. The completed piece uses all four movements of the traditional symphony and attempts to reflect the conventions and forms of those movements. However, each movement is more or less in miniature, creating a finished work that is only about fourteen minutes long. Hopefully, this will provide teaching opportunities through the ability to discuss each movement and draw comparisons to the forms and traditions expressed in other symphonies.

Symphony No. 4 for Winds and Percussion was commissioned by Chip DeStefano and the McCracken Middle School Symphonic Band and premiered by that ensemble at the Illinois Music Educators Association Convention in Peoria, Illinois on January 30, 2004.