Although he has set numerous poems by poets such as Wallace Stevens and Robert Creeley, he has also set a myriad of diverse, alternative texts, such as fictitious answering machine messages ("Thursday" for soprano and piano), onomatopoeia words ("The Essence of Gravity" for a cappella choir), and even nursery rhymes ("Life is But a Dream" for a cappella choir). One of these works, "CAPTCHA" for baritone and piano, "...derives its lyrics from the two-word answers to reCAPTCHA puzzles. The lyrics are a combination of words, numbers and fragments of words and nonsense." Within his vocal output, one of his primary works is the climate change inspired "A New Eaarth" for orchestra, chorus and narrator, commissioned by the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association, and inspired by Eaarth by Bill McKibben, who narrated at the premiere. Described by the press as "an amazingly colorful tone poem", "A New Eaarth" consists of alternating sections of pure orchestral music, narration, and sections for orchestra and chorus (these excerpted choral movements also exist as a work for a choir and piano entitled "Suite from A New Eaarth"). The work addresses climate change and is divided into four main sections, each section centered on one of the four classical elements and how they relate to environmental disasters such as flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes and forest fires, all thought to be exacerbated by climate change. The text for this work consists of narrative text by Paterson based on statements and statistics in McKibben's book, as well as poems by Wendell Berry, James Joyce, Percy Bysshe Shelly and William Wordsworth and well-known quotes and aphorisms. All works are published by Bill Holab Music.