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Limonaia
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Robert Fleitz, Itasca
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After visiting Amelia Earhart’s childhood home in Aitchison, Kansas, Flietz realized that Amelia’s legendary status was inextricably linked to how quickly and quietly her humanity vanished. Named after the picket ship that communicated with Amelia Earhart on her final flight, Itasca captures the essence of this mystery.
Robert Fleitz (New York), http://www.robertfleitz.com/. |
Steven Serpa, Canciones de Desamor
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Serpa writes: “This set of songs came about one winter when tenor Daniel Castillo, a friend and colleague in Austin, TX, brought me three poems he wanted set for an upcoming recital. They were written by his mother decades ago, while living in her native Mexico, and are heart-broken snap-shots from her young adulthood. It might sound cliché, but these poems reminded me that the weight of loneliness and loss was not something I carry alone.”
Steven Serpa (Texas), http://serpamusic.com/ |
Andrew Porter, Scenes from an Early Autumn Day
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Porter writes: “This piece addresses the highs and lows of being both a young adult and artist. Within it is a sense of meandering, flashes of doubt, feelings of love and romance, the anger and pain of failure, the triumph of success, the bittersweetness of nostalgia, and the fear of not knowing what’s next.”
Andrew Porter is an African-American composer and multi-instrumentalist born & based in Brooklyn, New York. Now, at 23 and a graduate of the composition program at Brooklyn College’s Conservatory of Music, Andrew aims to write music that is expressive, colorful, and tells a story. His goal is to one day write music for a Broadway stage. |
Tamilla Ahadova, Without You
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Ahadova writes: “This work was written in the words of the great Azerbaijani poet Nasimi, who lived in the fourteenth to fifteenth centuries. The words of the composition glorify unrequited love, but in spite of everything, the main character’s unique love shows itself.”
Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, composer Tamilla Ahadova studied in the Bulbul School of Music as a pianist. Later, she attended the Baku Music Academy for composition with famous Azerbaijani composer Arif Melikov, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 2017 and a master’s in 2019 with a red diploma distinction. Ahadova is the winner of the Azerbaijani International Romance Competition and has had her music played in many different countries and artistic scenes in Azerbaijan. |
Oliver Caplan, The New Colossus
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Caplan writes: “America was founded in 1776, a nation of immigrants. Now, we talk about walls, about fear, about sharing, about keeping, and keeping out. But over a century ago, in 1883, author Emma Lazarus penned a sonnet so powerful it would come to symbolize our nation’s place in the world for generations. I set Lazarus’s words to music in honor of those who’ve found a home in America and those who wait yet ‘beside the golden door.’”
Oliver Caplan (Massachusetts), https://www.olivercaplan.com/bio.html. |
Kathryn Salfelder, Nocturno
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Kathryn Salfelder (Massachusetts), http://kathrynsalfelder.com/about/.
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Emma Wine, Gold Against the Gloom
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Wine writes: “Gold Against the Gloom follows a young girl who, with each movement, experiences a different adventure. First she leaves home for the first time; second she’s a little bit older and flitting from excitement to excitement. The third movement is her first heartbreak, and in the fourth she sees her past self, shining moments and flaws alike, and is able to find courage, hope, and inner peace. Every so often, my girlfriend and I stumble upon the topic of being gay in Texas. Nothing bad has happened yet, but especially in this stranger-than-fiction political and cultural climate, being out has instilled in me a sense of constant vigilance for my safety and emotional well-being.”
Emma Wine (Texas), https://www.emmakentwine.com/about |
Eric Whitacre, Goodnight Moon
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Whitacre writes: “Over the first six years of his life, I must have read Goodnight Moon to my son a thousand times, maybe more. Somewhere around reading number 500 I began hearing little musical fragments as I read, and over time those fragments began to blossom into a simple, sweet lullaby.”
Eric Whitacre (California), https://ericwhitacre.com/biography |
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Nadeau Garden of Inspiration |
Eve Beglarian, Play Nice
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Play Nice is based on a poem by Linda Norton about knitting in the Aran Islands. The piece incorporates a sweet redemptive pattern borrowed from one of Belgarian’s previous projects, an underscore for an audiobook of Stephen King’s Gerald’s Game.
Eve Beglarian (Vermont), https://evbvd.com/blog/bio/. |
Pamela Marshall, Sunrise on the Hills
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Marshall writes: “Sunrise on the Hills is inspired by the similarly named poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It appears to me to describe the hills and valleys of some central New England landscape, maybe the Berkshires in the West where I grew up.”
Pamela J. Marshall (Massachussets), https://www.spindrift.com/spbio1.php |
Bruce Brolsma, Third Mode Melody Variations
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Brolsma writes: “Third Mode Melody Variations is based on Thomas Tallis’ beautiful 16 th century hymn tune, Third Mode Melody, which uses the Phrygian mode rather than a more traditional major or minor scale.”
Bruce Brolsma (Massachusetts) received a Ph.D. in music theory from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and has been active primarily as a composer of sacred music associated with University Lutheran Church, Harvard Square, Cambridge. |
Evan Fein, Sailing On Starlight
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As the son of an Astrophysicist, Fein composed his piece inspired by the life-cycles of stars. Recent advances in astronomy allowed scientists to discover that the material ejected by a dying star accelerates by catching the light of the parent star and riding it like a sail.
Evan Fein (New York), http://evanfein.com/ |
Alice Gomez, La Calavera
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La Calavera draws its name from the traditional Mexican loteria card depicting a skull with crossbones. This long lost soul guided Gomez as she created this mysterious, peculiar composition.
Alice Gomez (Texas), https://www.alicegomezmusic.com/bio.html |
Marta Kowalczuk, Drapex
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Kowalczuk writes: “I wrote Drapex for my friend, a horn player, when I was in my first year of university. The name of the composition comes from her surname - Drapiewska. The idea for the piece was to find a way to present these instruments, to find a sound that would connect them.”
Marta Kowalczuk (1998) is a Polish composer living in Germany. Currently, she is pursuing a Bachelor's degree in composition under Prof. Michael Obst at Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar. |
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Lawn Garden |
Oliver Caplan, Canciones de Monteverde
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Canciones de Monteverde is built on musical interpretations of seven bird calls, a small sample from Caplan’s bird watching experience in Monteverde, Costa Rica-- one of the most biodiverse places on the planet.
Oliver Caplan (Massachusetts), https://www.olivercaplan.com/bio.html. |
Derrick Spiva Jr., American Mirror
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Spiva Jr. writes: “American Mirror reflects on the coming together of cultures in our society, which consists of many generations and descendants of refugees, immigrants, and slaves, and how intercultural collaborations are essential to the well-being of American society.”
Derrick Spiva Jr. (California), https://www.derrickspiva.com/about/. |
Oliver Caplan, Lunastella Fuga
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Caplan writes: “Lunastella Fuga was composed during the dog days of summer, nights spent gaping at the stars and wandering the New Hampshire woodland aglow in the otherworldly light of a blue moon.”
Oliver Caplan (Massachusetts), https://www.olivercaplan.com/bio.html. |
Jessie Montgomery, Strum
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Written in 2006 for the Providence String Quartet and the guests of Community MusicWorks Players, Strum draws on American folk idioms and the spirit of dance and movement. The piece's narrative begins with fleeting nostalgia and transforms into ecstatic celebration.
Jessie Montgomery (New York), https://www.jessiemontgomery.com/biography. |
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Secret Garden |
Allison Loggins-Hull, Homeland
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In this piece, Loggins-Hull asks: What do we do with a place we feel we belong, when we cannot belong? What happens to our meaning of home when it is in political turmoil, devastated by a natural disaster or a human disaster?
Allison Loggins-Hull (New Jersey), https://allisonloggins.com/about/. |
Linda Chase, Wildfire Rages, River Whispers, Resilience
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Chase’s piece remembers the wildfires in California along her beloved Scott River and reflects on the current climate crisis. Chase writes: “In these challenging times of climate change, resilience is necessary through active participation in bringing about what we hope for – what we want to protect – this is what the river whispers.”
Linda J. Chase, (Massachusetts), https://www.lindajchase.com/about. |
Arvo Pärt, Spiegel im Speigel
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Translated to “Mirror in the Mirror,” this piece relies on clarity, simplicity, and pureness of sound, with each phrase followed by one that mirrors its partner.
Arvo Pärt (Estonia), https://www.arvopart.ee/en/arvo-part/. |
Timothy K. Adams Jr., Tears
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Timothy K. Adams Jr., (Massachusetts) https://www.tkadamspercussion.com/.
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Astor Piazzolla, Tango Etude No. 3
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Tango Etude no 3 displays the results of Piazzolla’s characteristic experimentation with traditional tango. This new tango melds the classic Latin American style with jazz elements.
Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) (Argentina), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astor_Piazzolla. |