OK, Everyone Calm Down! (PDF)

National Flute Association’s 2023 Newly Published Music Honorable Mention in the Mixed Flute Duet Category

OK, Everyone Calm Down! was commissioned by Marcus Steven Holzinger and Lucian Taylor as part of their senior recital at Central Michigan University.

Music school is a tough endeavor. It’s a full schedule which leaves little amount of time for sleeping and eating. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and defeated. The people who keep their heads are the ones who can make it to completion and enter the even tougher world of trying to make a living from being a musician.

The title OK, Everyone Calm Down! is that statement that most people have shouted in a stressful situation in which the shouter is the only one who is actually stressed and upset. Its where the situation is so overwhelming it feels like everyone around you is shouting and panicked even though they are perfectly calm. This piece reflects that bubbling of anxiety that builds up when in music school. All you can do is keep calm, and practice.