Passages

Composers are often tasked with creating from a void, an emptiness. The blank page is an easel. The parts of a structure of a piece of music – melody, accompaniment, line, harmony, tension, and release – must take shape to reach the listener’s ear.  

 

Sometimes, instead of starting with an empty sheet of staff paper, a composer creates something which is pollinated by another source. Perhaps it is a folk song, a poem, a melody, or an even a larger work, such as a full-length opera.  

 

New works are then realized. In the case of this two-cd set, an East South Africa folk tune receives new life as a romantic piano ballade. A sonnet of Petrarch resurfaces centuries later as a dramatic declaration of love, through a solo piano work.  

 

The repertoire on these discs traces my own development as a pianist and musician. Each work marks a chapter of my own development and artistry thus far. The song transcriptions are pieces that I’ve played countless times with vocal partners. The operatic works are works that I’ve coached or conducted. 

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