solo/duo

a rOund

          A rOund explores a cyclical structure akin to a rondo in which the main theme returns in various contexts throughout. A principal inspiration for the music is germination, in which a hardy seed releases root and sapling when given the correct moisture. Despite changing conditions, simple daily nutrients strengthen and enliven the plant. Over many cycles and seasons, a sapling can become an ancient and mighty tree.

Performances:

13 October 2024: Abby Washinger and Kathryn Stockmaster, The College of Wooster, Wooster, OH.

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Celebration!

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Celebration! expands the 2024 ICA ClarinetFest theme “Every Clarinetist is Connected” to a global scale and across many instruments. The interactive audiovisual work asks the audience to submit questions regarding their birth countries, where they have lived, and where they have traveled. The music features musicians from around the world who share the musical traditions that have meaning to them. Clarinet lines explore and develop these melodies while the electronics accompany and bridge the melodies with subtle nods to both traditional musics and to EDM. The work was co-composed by Dylan Findley and Csaba Jevtic-Somlai and features melodic contributions by Shuang Zhu, Handel Gyuri, Regina Tanujaya, Eduardo Frigatti, La Guacamaya Collective, and Kwan Leung Ling (in order of appearance).

To be premiered at the ICA ClarinetFest, Ecocem Room, Dublin Convention Centre, Dublin Ireland by Dylan Findley and Csaba Jevtic-Somlai.

to till the ground

For solo guitar.

The title to till the ground came after the music. The modal musical vocabulary, lulling rhythms, snappy embellishments, and hushed chromatic musings look backward to ancient practices. In a world saturated with information, most of life’s most precious lessons still come from the experience gained by the sweat of one’s brow and in connecting to the earth and its Creator.

Finished May 25, 2024.

Premiere August 16, 2024 at the São Paulo Contemporary Composers Festival by the exceptional guitarist Daniel Murray, for whom the piece was written (as a surprise).

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A Real Buster

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A Real Buster is a multimedia work for tenor saxophone, live electronics, and video that reflects on Buster Keaton’s legacy as a comic actor and as a filmmaker. The name Buster, given to him by Harry Houdini, referred to his extreme resilience to pain, which is manifest in his dangerous stunts featured in his movies.

To be premiered at the Kairos Multimeda Concert on April 2, 2024 by Drew Hosler at the Shoolroy Theatre, College of Wooster.

Five Wooster Miniatures

In honor of the first Celebration for Creators and Scholars at The College of Wooster, Five Wooster Miniatures celebrates unique aspects of the campus culture. The piece was written for Clarinet in B-flat.

I. Black Squirrels

II. The Arch

III. Scottie Dog

IV. Senior I. S. (A Lesson in Procrastination)

V. Tartan Farewell

Premiered March 1, 2024 at the Celebration for Creators and Scholars by Dylan Findley at The College of Wooster.

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Cosmic Cliffs

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Commissioned by and written for Ting Luo for the New Arts Collaboration, Cosmic Cliffs finds inspiration in and uses imagery from NASA’s James Webb Telescope. This multimedia work for piano and interactive media features electronic sound and video that reacts to the performer and allows for the performer to explore the sonic landscapes in points of rest in the piano part. The work is built around the overtone series, the foundation of timbre, representing the powerful filtering process that allows the telescope to block out unwanted light to capture events millions of light years away in stunning brilliance.

Premiered by Ting Luo on May 19, 2023 at Old First Concerts, San Francisco, CA.

Clarinet Pieces

Clarinet Pieces is a comedy piece for clarinet and piano, written for the College of Wooster Parody Recital. The performer performs with the mouthpiece attached to the lower joint, to the bell (loosely held), and with the upper and lower joint simultaneously (two mouthpieces). Other theatrics including interchange between the pianist and clarinetist are involved.

Premiered by Dylan Findley and Toni Shreve, Gault Recital Hall, April 15, 2023.

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Race in Space!

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Co-written and premiered with Csaba Jevtic-Somlai, Race in Space! contemplates the experience of private space travel. The music is both sprightly and explorative with clear melodies and tonal bouts blended with growling, multiphonics, bends, scoops, glissandi, and even reconstructions and additions to the clarinet. Electronic interludes based on NASA footage frame the launch and landing movements.

Movements

  1. Preparations

  2. Liftoff

  3. Leaving the Atmosphere

  4. In Outer Space

  5. Splash Landing!

Premiered by Csaba Jevtic-Somlai and Dylan Findley on June 29th, 2022 at the annual International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest, Reno, NV.

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i2i

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At the onset of the 2020-2021 pandemic, I found myself, along with many others, on social media more than ever before. Ironically, the time online did not fill my social void. I felt anxious, discouraged, and hooked to every social and political issue. If only I knew earlier that I was playing with fire! The artificial intelligence keeps people online through endless information and the yearning for replies and reactions. It has also been the hotbed of conspiracy theories and misinformation that have led to hate towards already marginalized groups and even terrible acts of violence. With such forces in play, how can one get to know the real you?

In i2i, the two performers (each a capital I) attempt to connect, but they compete with the aggressive electronics. Only when they see through the games of the electronics are they able to overcome its influence. In other words, the individual “I” steps down (lowercase “i”) to arrive at a unison (a2). Only by interacting directly and not through the filters of media are they able to see eye to eye.

Premiered July 15, 2021 at the International Trombone Festival by Russ Zokaites and Nathan Mensink.

Commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University

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The Story of Our Journey

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For information on future performances and the background of the work, visit this page dedicated to the project.

Interested in performing this work? The score is available for purchase below, and the electronic audio component (stereo fixed media with visual cues operated through Max/MSP) is available for those who plan to perform the piece live (I’ll be in touch about that!). Read about the video component below.

Score excerpt here.

Purchase the score ($60)

While this piece can be played without the video, the video component adds important context to the work, including the faces and translated words of those who tell their stories. However, the video of The Story of Our Journey is owned by non-profit advocacy organization Their Story is Our Story. Please contact them to make arrangements for the video to be projected during performance.

Performances/Showings to Date:

April 14, 2023- Live performance at the College of Wooster for the Their Story is Our Story residency Displacement Today in Wooster, OH. Performed by Csaba Jevtic-Somlai.

February 21, 2022- Live performance of movements 2 and 3 at the Worlds Within the One recital at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in La Crosse, WI. Performed by Dylan Findley.

November 19, 2021- Live performance at the Glendale Civic Center in Glendale, AZ. Sponsored by the City of Glendale Office of Arts and Culture through their Performing Arts Grant Program. Performed by Csaba Jevtic-Somlai.

November 5, 2021- Live performance at the Glendale Ampitheater in Glendale, AZ. Sponsored by the City of Glendale Office of Arts and Culture through their Performing Arts Grant Program. Performed by Csaba Jevtic-Somlai.

October 23, 2021- Live performance at the Millcreek Library in Salt Lake City. Performed by Csaba Jevtic-Somlai.

October 21, 2021- Live performance at Brigham Young University as part of Their Story is Our Story’s residency. Performed by Csaba Jevtic-Somlai.

June 20, 2021- Online showing through Washington D.C.-based organization Sunset Run for Refugees (World Refugee Day).

June 18, 2021- Live excerpts performed at World Refugee Day activities in Salt Lake City, UT.

March 19, 2021- Online showing #2 through City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture

January 22, 2021- Online showing through the City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture

December 5, 2020- Online video “European premiere,” followed by panel discussion with TSOS Europe representative.

October 16, 2020- Online video premiere, followed by panel discussion with TSOS Phoenix area representative.

Courtly Dance

Written for Alexandre Ribiero, Courtly Dance takes a contemporary view of the stylized dance forms popular in the 16th and 17th centuries, such as the Allemande, Canario, Minuet and Trio, and Galliard. Rather than imitate the style of one of these dances, the music moves to its own step in frequent meter changes and juxtaposed themes. Open string clusters are prominent throughout what could be the middle section of the piece (most reminiscent of a Trio section). The A section features mostly duple meters and stitched repeated fragments while the B section introduces a longer, lyrical melody in contrast.

Performances:

October 5, 2019 by Alexandre Ribeiro at the Catedral de Sé, São Paulo, Brazil.

Le danse de Oberon

Le Danse de Oberon is a companion piece to Debussy’s “Le Danse de Puck” in his Preludes, Book I. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Puck wreaks havoc under the auspices of Oberon, husband to Titania, the queen of the fairies. The horn call motive in Debussy’s prelude alludes to Oberon, and my prelude begins with the same call. Despite his royal stature, Oberon’s anger at his wife leads him to seek revenge. The conflict between Oberon and Titania, two powerful mystical beings, intensifies the weather—changing seasons and unsettling the sea. My dance features a flustered nobility, where stately sounds stumble to give way for more comic sonorities. The work pulls from “Le Danse de Puck” in some of its harmonic vocabulary, rhythms, and the horn-call motif; however, Le Danse de Oberon features a more aggressive, earthy style to contrast Puck’s weightless image.

Performances

  • March 17, 2019 by Allison Moline for the 2019 UMKC Piano Studio Co[mp]llaboration
    White Recital Hall, University of Missouri-Kansas City, KCMO.

  • March 31, 2019 by Allison Moline for the 2019 UMKC Piano Studio Co[mp]llaboration
    Kansas City Public Library, KCMO.

Andando

Andando begins quickly and gradually decelerates through metric modulations in “Que yo quiero llegar tardando” (“For I want to arrive late”). This movement retreats from the busyness of everyday life into the solitude of nature at sundown.

“Mi corazón ya es remanso” (“My heart is already at peace”) opens in stasis. This lyrical movement first traces a modal melody, then it swells passionately to a strong, yearning climax, depicting the faithful tears the poet leaves behind.

“Dar mi alma a cada grano” (“To give my soul to each grain”) acts as a coda to the work. Melodic notes are decorated with extended runs, freely made from past material. The work ends with a recollection of the second movement, ending in peace.

Andando was written for and premiered by Regina Tanujaya at her recital concert, Poems and Pictures.

Andando 

Andando, andando.
Que quiero oír cada grano
de la arena que voy pisando.

Andando.
Dejad atrás los caballos,
que yo quiero llegar tardando
(andando, andando)
dar mi alma a cada grano
de la tierra que voy rozando.

Andando, andando.
¡Qué dulce entrada en mi campo,
noche inmensa que vas bajando!

Andando.
Mi corazón ya es remanso;
ya soy lo que me está esperando
(andando, andando)
y mi pie parece, cálido,
que me va el corazón besando.

Andando, andando.
¡Que quiero ver el fiel llanto
del camino que voy dejando!

Juan Ramón Jiménez

Walking

Walking, walking.
How I want to hear each grain
of the sand I tread upon.

Walking.
Leave behind the horses,
for I want to arrive late
(walking, walking)
to give my soul to each grain
of the earth my feet graze. 

Walking, walking.
How sweet to enter my field,
An expansive nightfall descends! 

Walking.
My heart is already at peace;
I am the only one I expect
(walking, walking)
and my foot seems, burning,
as if continually kissing my heart.

Walking, walking
How I want to see the faithful tears
of the path I leave behind!

(Translated by the composer)

Performances

  • December 1st, 2018 by Regina Tanujaya for her “Poem and Pictures” Recital at White Recital Hall, University of Kansas City-Missouri, KCMO.

In the Mind of Energy

“This division of energy into actual and potential seems to me to be defective. It prevents the direct comprehension in the mind of energy as being motion and nothing else; it leaves unexplained how a body perfectly at rest can come to move; and further implies the dissipation of energy . . . in a new phase, for, if all the actual energy in the universe were to become potential, all the real and positive motions which constitute life might indefinitely cease.”

- George Iles, The Constancy of Motion, Popular Science Monthly, Volume 10, December 1876

Written for and premiered by Transient Canvas at the ALBA Music Festival.

Interested in performing In the Mind of Energy?

Perusal Score

In the Mind of Energy- Score and Parts

Performances:

Refreshing the Feeling

Commissioned by TransAmerican Duo (Diana Ramirez and Brian McKee), this work for violin and bassoon blends energy, humor, expressiveness, and virtuosity in a strange fashion.

Interested in performing Refreshing the Feeling?

Perusal Score

Refreshing the Feeling- Score and Parts

Performances:

Wend Your Way

Commissioned by the American Guild of Organists Student Commissioning Project, Wend Your Way is a fantasia on the classic Latter-day Saint hymn tune and text.  It progresses from the depths of sorrow for the martyrdom of the early members of the Latter-day Saint church's prophet, Joseph Smith, through the uncertainties of what lie ahead for the Saints, into the confidence and strength found in everlasting hope, and finally to the glorious joy of reaching a land of refuge and sanctuary, serving as a literal narrative and the personal spiritual journey we all strive to make in life.

Interested in performing Wend Your Way?

Perusal Score

Wend Your Way- Organ Music

Performances

Imagine If...

Imagine If... explores my former clarinet professor Jaren Hinckley's teaching style based on Stanislavski's acting method.  The perfomer has written prompts within the part that must be weaved together into one story by the performer.  But the main difference from Hinckley's method is that the piece calls for actual acting from the performer...

Interested in performing Imagine If...?

Contact me for more information.

Performances:

Andrew Bjarnson performing my comedy piece Imagine If... Performed 3/14/15 at BYU.