Pathways was written for and dedicated to Dr. Tyler Austin and the Oklahoma State University Concert Band. The piece was inspired by the following text by Rainer Maria Rilke:

"Understand, I'll slip quietly away

from the noisy crowd

when I see the pale stars

rising, blooming, over the oaks.

I'll pursue solitary pathways

through the pale

twilit meadows

with only this one dream:

You come too."