The Work

Premiere: TBA

Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall

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From the composer: My new work builds on a previous work, Seething, for cello and kick drum, commissioned and performed by Amanda Gookin. This will be my first solo-composed work for full orchestra.

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I’ve always had a respectful disregard for the “classical canon.” I come from outside that tradition. As a saxophonist, I’m not often a participant in orchestral performances, so my performance experience includes many “non-classical” endeavors. Furthermore, the music of my everyday life that heavily inspires my writing is not capital-“C” Classical. Rather, I listen to a lot of different types of music including top-40 pop hits, scream rock, metal, and other genres.

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My goal as a composer is finding ways to make an established ensemble, for instance, an orchestra, sound like the music I’ve been inspired by – how can I make violins sound like electric guitars? Can the percussion section use blast beats? [Additionally,] I try to use the techniques [that] performers can universally do outside performing on their instrument – quasi-choreographed movements, onstage vocal discussion, body percussion – to re-create sonic elements found in my everyday life.

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For this work, I want to explore new ways for the concerto soloist to be virtuosic. When the cellist adds something that they’ve never done before within the context of the performance, I’m looking to expand what a single performer can do. How can I include the performer’s entirety, to merge their person and the instrument that they play, into a single entity? I want to explore that within the entire ensemble. What would it mean to treat each musician as a virtuoso within the context of a larger group of musicians?

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Recent Work

Lead support for EarShot CoLABoratory is generously provided by TD Charitable Foundation, Altman Foundation, Jerome Foundation, The New York Community Trust Van Lier Fellowships, and the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.