A violinist, his earliest works feature that instrument: solo, sonata, and concerto. Growing up in a Midwestern college town, he embraced two additional influences: its choral tradition and art song—the latter thanks to the student and faculty recitals accompanied by his mother (for which he was often the page-turner). This inspired him to compose numerous choral works and song-cycles. His forays into the wind and brass worlds took him completely by surprise. Close friends asked, so he said yes. Then they kept asking, so he kept writing.
That frog from the blue-green lagoon must have croaked in Wharton’s memory, since he has now written music to three children’s books for narrator, orchestra, and projections.
Recent activities also include writing short chorale preludes for use in worship and arrangements of existing works for ensembles such as the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the Royal Philharmonic (London), and the Borealis Wind Quintet.
“No one is writing like him” —David Del Tredici