Miniature Overture was commissioned by Ernest Mills and the Kearsage Regional High School Band in North Sutton, New Hampshire. The request was for a short work that would be playable by a large number of high school bands throughout the country.

The piece is based upon three ideas: a unifying polychordal harmonic figure (heard in the first measure), a melody based on the interval of a fourth, and a folk-like, slow melody. The melodic material is put through several processes including stretto, anon, inversion, and simultaneous recapitulation. It was my hope to make a significant teaching piece in this short, three-minute setting.

The work is dedicated to my high school band director, Donald К. Smith. He was the band director at High Point High School in Beltsville, Maryland. As I enter my 31st year of teaching, I look back on my experience in his band and realize how it molded me as a musician/teacher. He taught us the pursuit of excellence, had the highest of standards for both the band and himself, and taught us self-discipline and self-motivation. He also provided quality musical experiences for us. Little did I know that other high school bands were not playing Persichetti's Symphony for Band, Grainger's Lincolnshire Posy, Nixon's Fiesta del Pacifico, and Vaughan Williams's Toccata Marziale, just to name a few.

Most recently I have been reunited with Mr. Smith and I thought it appropriate to dedicate one of my compositions to a person who was so influential in my musical life.

- Program Note by composer