This film tells the story of tundra swans, monarch butterflies, eels and shore birds as they migrate into and out of Chesapeake Bay. The film premiered at the DC Environmental Film Festival in March 2025. Maryland Public Television broadcast the film in April 2025. View Chesapeake Rhythms on the YouTube channel of Chesapeake Bay Journal.

The European green crab has invaded the coastal waters of New England. This unwelcome, out of control, interloper is devastating the shell-fishery of New England. The film premieres on Martha’s Vineyard in March 2025. Click on the image to view the trailer.

Chesapeake Bay is famous for its blue crabs, rock fish (aka Striped Bass)

and oysters. A Passion for Oysters tells how watermen, scientists and government have come together to protect and restore the vital oyster population of Chesapeake Bay. Enjoy this 42-minute nature documentary at

this link:

https://www.bayjournal.com/films/a-passion-for-oysters-2023/video_97f5d40c-743c-11ee-a570-73bc996ee388.html

This award-winning film tells the story of four high school students who kayak and trek the seventeen miles of the

Cooper River in New Jersey to find its headwaters. Lead by naturalists and accompanied by a photographer from

National Geographic, these students enjoy a truly hands-on experience of science, nature and community. View The Cooper at this link: https://vimeo.com/756775844

Making a small, family farm successful is extremely difficult. Pop’s Old Place tells the story of one family’s successful, small

farm. One of the reasons for their success is their use of regenerative farming techniques. View the film at this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8pIzrBG8tU

This 90-minute, historical drama tells the story of Chincoteague Island from about 1790 to 1861 when the Battle of Mosquito Creek took place. Union forces defeated the Rebels on the western shore of Chincoteague Bay and turned the course of the war to favor the Union’s ultimate victory. Post production work on the film has been interrupted by the terrible wildfires of 2024-2025 around Los Angles. No complete date has been set for the film.

I compose music for live theatre produced by Chincoteague Island Theatre Company (https://www.chincoteagueca.org/theatre.html) and North Street Playhouse

(https://northstreetplayhouse.org/)

The work is astonishingly varied. Comedies, mysteries, love stories, you name it. Unlike film work, this music has to be succinct. Scene cues generally run about 30-seconds while the stage crew changes the set. Opening music, intermission music and the curtain call may run up to 90- seconds. The music has to support the performance by underscoring or predicting the action or mood. That means the genera of the music changes with every production. Occasionally the work requires leitmotifs to draw the audience into specific characters. The instrumentation ranges from conventional symphonic orchestral voices to world music.

You might hear a jazz piece or an folk dance, or a big cinematic theme. Composing for theatre is always intense and always rewarding.

No video of the productions are available. However, you can sample some of my compositions on my SoundCloud account. https://soundcloud.com/bill-troxler

Murder on the Orient Express: https://soundcloud.com/bill-troxler/sets/murder-on-the-orient-express

Storytelling: https://soundcloud.com/bill-troxler/sets/storytelling-film

Compositions for Live Theatre (58 tracks, run time 47 minutes):

https://soundcloud.com/bill-troxler/sets/compositions-for-live-theatre

I compose music for The Bivalve Trail Podcast and do the technical work of recording and engineering the show. Lexi Hubb created the program. It’s a captivating telling of historical events from Chincoteague’s past. Lexi has uncovered stories that are largely unknown and fascinating. She has thoughtfully researched the stories and presents the tales with the flourish that comes naturally to a trained thespian. Listen to episodes of the Bivalve

Trail at this link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1545259

Longtayle Studios is an occasional gathering of like-minded writers, actors, musicians and technologist. We create videos to support community theatre.

The name “Longtayle” was given to the first ship built by Europeans in the Virginia colony. It was a modest shallop that saw much duty including conflicts with the Maryland colony over which colony owned the island in Chesapeake Bay. Spelling had not be standardized in the 17th century.

Longtayle appears in written documents with many different spellings. We chose the version that presents the name as a single word and with the charming “y”.

View some of our work at these links:

Three Tales of Halloween: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1WXIAvQHg4&t=114s

Three Tales of Christmas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k10m0vJlwvM

Soliloquies of Shakespeare: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aM301TgIC8

Two One Act Plays: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5NbaBJHMZk