Chimera, for solo piano

Chimera was commissioned by and is dedicated to pianist extraordinaire Nolan Pearson. While at Tanglewood in 2011 I heard Nolan play an inhuman number of difficult works, so when he asked me to write a piece for him I jumped at the chance, and immediately knew I wanted to compose something substantial and that would show off Nolan’s immense pianistic skills. Chimera, as the title suggests, is a beast made up of various contrasting parts, some muscular and extroverted, others sensitive, rhythmically flexible, and introverted.