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.
Bell Threads, for solo viola
Sinews, for solo violin
Strange Loops, for chamber orchestra and electronics
Recoil, for chamber orchestra
Anakhtara, for solo cello
Chimera, for solo piano
Pasiphae Verses, for 10 wind instruments
Pasiphae Verses was commissioned by the Tanglewood Music Center for its 75th anniversary season. The piece is scored for double wind quintet—a somewhat uncommon ensemble. The size of the ensemble allows for intimate solo and chamber moments as well as fuller, “orchestral” sonorities, and I approached the ensemble with the intention of making use of this variety of available textures. Inspired by living in istanbul, I also continued my exploration of melodic microtones in this work, which to my ears allow simple melodic structures to sound fresh in their evocation of the new and old.
Leaf Metal, for Large Wind Ensemble
When imagining writing for the Boston Conservatory Wind Ensemble, I knew immediately that I wanted to write something “oceanic.” I would use the whole ensemble like a vast organism, and fleeting soloistic creatures would emerge briefly and be quickly subsumed by the overall sound mass. The title brings together the natural and the industrial, and waves of sound move between liquid and solid states, water and steel. Colorful, strange characters emerge, as amplified, microtonal harps create detuned textures that live alongside brassy, distorted “big band” stabs. These, however, are fleeting figures in the ocean of sound that is the main thrust of the work.