The Piwakawaka or Fantail is an inquisitive and lively bird. It will often follow you for some time through the bush, hovering for short spells in front of y...

Cape Reinga is the final movement in a three piece orchestral suite exploring New Zealand landscape and their link to the four elements. Punakaiki (water...

In writing a work for large orchestra, the main problem that presented itself was such: that for all the twentieth century techniques that deal with material...

Movement for Orchestra was composed in Dunedin, NZ in 1985. Using variation form for its structure, it opens and closes with a slow section in 4/2. It is w...

The Voice Inside, a concerto for violin, soprano and orchestra, was commissioned by the BBC and comprises settings of seven poems by Ron Butlin relating to...

Second Rhapsody for Accordion and Orchestra was composed for world champion accordionist, Grayson Masefield. Grayson was born on Auckland's North Shore and...

This piece is a bug the size of a symphony orchestra. Tiny sounds and instrumental colours deemed ‘too small’ for orchestral writing are amplified through th...

Concerto for Piano and Orchestra is untitled but the music is hardly “absolute”. On the contrary, it is often extroverted, evocative, and full of passionat...

As its title suggests, this piece is about a constant wavering in purpose and intention, where ideas vie for a foothold in an ever shifting aural vista. Crud...

During 2007 I spent a lot of time making field recordings of background noise in Paris, and analysing the spectral and rhythmic content of those recordings. ...

In 2017 I wrote a violin concerto with a sizeable part for a solo percussionist, and some of the musical ideas inspired this piece, which took on a completel...

My visit to Ireland in 1994 exposed me to the traditional music, and I came away from vague thoughts of using some of the more rhythmic music in an extended ...

These three Spanish songs were written at the request of mezzo-soprano Vivien Dickson. Origiannly written for mezzo and string quartet during 2015, the compo...

Witnessing Parihaka is a semi-staged orchestral work twenty-two minutes in duration. The piece portrays the events surrounding the invasion and plundering of...

This work is named after the beautiful Huia Bay near the entrance to the Manukau Harbour.

While not necessarily directly programmatic, this piece evokes a...

"Where do words go when the sound of them has died?" (Keri Hulme). With onomatopoeic words we can linger on the actual sound of the word and then the imagi...

"The Mountain" existed as a duo piano work first. It was commissioned by the legendary composer/pianist Frederic Rzewski and his long time collaborator, pian...

What happens to us after we die? This fundamental question has haunted human imagination for thousands of years. Many recorded accounts of 'near-death' exp...

1. Sand
During a walk along Allans Beach one very windy day, I was fascinated with the white dry sand being blown across the firmer sand, like clouds....

The Auckland Symphony Orchestra commissioned this work in 1983 for John Russell, principal trombonist with the orchestra. It was premiered that year and ha...

This work is an orchestral transcription of Five Pieces for piano.

Huriawa - Prelude and Variations for Orchestra draws on the history, atmosphere and character of the Karitane Peninsula, 35kms north of Dunedin, the site o...

Suite No. 1 for String Orchestra is dedicated to Alex Lindsay, founder and conductor of the Alex Lindsay String Orchestra. It was completed in April 1956 a...

This orchestral fanfare, commissioned by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra as one of a series of "Fanfares" for 1990, was also performed by the New Zealand...

The Long White Cloud is my interpretation of NZ and it's landscape and soundscape. This piece is a journey through the many sounds and worlds that this small...

At an Auckland Philharmonia fundraising auction in 2000, one of the orchestra's most generous sponsors, Dr. Tom Morris, bid a substantial amount for a short ...

Landscape songs was commissioned by St. Matthew’s Chamber Orchestra in 2006, and is scored for strings, woodwind, horn and timpani. The work uses melodic an...

Toccata for Orchestra is a virtuoso showcase overture that encompasses dark sinister elements which undergo vast transformations. Its dark opening theme ch...

The 3 Pieces for Orchestra (2015) are entitled The Heavens, Humanity and Earth. These pieces are the 4th in a series of 'Gimel Suites' that I've been compo...

This concert overture was commissioned by Auckland's Academy Youth Orchestra and first performed in 1994. The two main themes were originally written by the...

This work was written for St Matthews Chamber Orchestra. The title 'distant voices' reflects on the way in which the words of those who go before us speak to...

An orchestral arrangement of Beal and Boothe's seasonal favourite.

An orchestral arrangement of this classic nursery rhyme.

An arrangement of The Star Spangled Banner and God Defend New Zealand for Christchurch Symphony Orchestra's 4th July Concert in 2009

This work was written for the orchestra at St Mary's College in Auckland for a planned overseas tour in 2007. An overture was suggested as the most useful ty...

Commissioned in 1985 by the Wellington Regional Orchestra (now the Vector Wellington Orchestra) for a family concert under Sir William Southgate, as part of ...

This is a quirky but also soulful piece for an unusual and beautiful instrument. It is reasonably easy to play for the orchestra. It was commissioned by saxo...

Jenny McLeod was commissioned by the city of Palmerston North to compose music to commemorate its centenary in 1971. The resulting work, Under The Sun, was...

Suitable for school or community orchestras

"Are you waiting?" is one of several orchestral tone poems I am writing inspired by poems written by the Auckland poet Richard Taylor. This piece for solo b...

This orchestral work with mezzo-soprano and baritone soloists was commissioned anonymously for the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and is inspired by "Macbet...

Commissioned by the Canterbury Philharmonia this work in one movement is scored for full orchestra.