Composer
Bb Clarinet and Piano
In September 2017 the SJSU music building experienced a total power outage minutes before the downbeat of my recital. I wrote “Quelle Histoire!” in the days following this incident as a musical response. The trumpet illustrates my efforts in trying to cope with the situation while the piano interprets a chromatic descent.
For Flute, Bb Clarinet and Percussion.
Playtime starts with a fanciful children’s melody becoming increasingly dissonant. A child plays video games in their parent’s car stuck in Silicon Valley traffic. Playtime is in ternary form; during the middle contrasting section, a very long traffic light (as they are) provides an opportunity for the Clarinet and Flute to trade lyrical lines. Heavy traffic resumes afterwards.
I dedicated Playtime to my wife Elsa.
For Solo Bassoon
“Tiptoe Through the Hollow” is in five sections. A creature tip toes through a forest in the first section, and stumbles upon an ominous celebration in a clearing (second section). It manages to escape (third section) and interprets a victory dance (fourth section). The piece ends as the creature tip toes again through the forest.
Performed by Sean Martin
For Brass Quintet
The title of my composition refers to the ups and downs of the stock market, and the lack of rationale behind those. I developed an ostinato figure that is present throughout the piece. It symbolizes in Music the graphs that are so frequently used to visualize financial markets.
Performed by the New Era Brass Quintet:
For Soprano and Chamber Ensemble
I wrote an eccentric and bittersweet short poem in French contemplating the end of Summer. Fin de l’Eté sets this poem to music. Fin de l’Eté is in A A B A song form. For the A sections, the Soprano and Clarinet interact in a call-and-response fashion. During the B section the Marimba picks up the melody line from the soprano.
For Guitar and Violoncello
I was inspired to compose for this duo of instruments after practicing with Jill for my own guitar exam. In When the Day Ends the Cello and Guitar trade melodies and accompany each other using arpeggiated triads. In a contrasting section, the guitar plays chords over the cello’s bass line. The melodies return as well as the chords for the coda.
Jill Hirsh, Violoncello
Christopher Mann, Guitar