[wAGON sTUDIES]

History + MUSIC

PROGRESS TRACKER:

Last Updated June 7, 2026

The Wagon Studies

The Wagon Studies is a large scale chamber music project that I began in Feburary of 2026. The studies follow the late Sager family as they navigated through the Oregon Trail in 1844.

The goal of the Wagon Studies is to encapsulate the deep tragedies faced by the Sager family and their offspring while offering tonal, meaningful music.

The Wagon Studies will consist of 9 movements, each highlighting a different stop on the wagon trail, with some capturing the tragedies the family endured.

As of now, the instrumentation is Violin (2), Viola, Cello, Bass, Piano, Classical Guitar. The addition of percussion/harp is being considered.

Scraps

I began this project with the intention of writing idomatic repertoire for the classical guitar. The classical guitar is a notoriously challenging isntrument to write for; this has led to a ridiculous amount of scraps that turned out to be completely unrealistic.

I believe that the journey of large scale projects like this is one of the most interesting parts of composing; I have shared all of the scraps from the Wagon Studies here.

(As of June of 2026, There have been 27 scrapped movements)

First ever Wagon Study (written as a joke at first)

Second wagon study. Written after heavy feedback from wagon study one

Third wagon study. Written after the first two were called boring

An intended second movement of the wagon studies. (written in the second batch of scraps)

An intended second movement of the wagon studies. (written in the third batch of scraps)

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse