New@ Night

Tate Zawadiuk, cello

Anton Nel, piano

Aiden Kane, viola

Viano Quartet

Lucy Wang, violin

Hao Zhou, violin

Aiden Kane, viola

Tate Zawadiuk, cello

Descendants is written for cello and piano and was commissioned by pianist Zhu Wang for his graduation recital at Curtis Institute of Music, where we both attended. When Zhu and I first met to talk about this piece, he spoke to me about the importance of his family in getting him into music. I learned about how Zhu’s grandfather, who lives in China and worked in a factory his entire life, loved music and was the Music Director at his church. Thousands of miles away, my own grandfather worked in a coat factory in central Pennsylvania but sang in his church choir, and passed on a love of music to my mom. It was amazing to discover how our two grandfathers, who would never know each other, lived such similar experiences and had an impact on bringing Zhu and I together through music. This piece is a reflection on that coincidence. It begins with a lot of mechanical material, but over time a melody slowly reveals itself and takes over in the cello accompanied by rich piano harmonies. Framed as a tribute, this compositional choice is based on my belief that a musical melody can be evocative of a love for music that both our grandfathers shared.

—© Alistair Coleman

During a summer festival in 2017, I heard a performance of Thurídur Jónsdóttir’s INNI - Musica da Camera, and fell in love with the sound of the trilled harmonics— these bell-like tones fluttering through grounded solid notes like sunlight filtering through a canopy of leaves on a windy day. After toying with that particular texture far too often, I finally ended up writing a short work titled Meditation, mostly so I could keep summoning that windy green oasis and claim I was actually practicing something.

At the time, I was studying at the Colburn Conservatory, and during a particularly busy week I (for lack of actual preparation) brought Meditation into my lesson. My teacher, Paul Coletti, was incredibly supportive, and encouraged me to continue composing. Rather than jumping into something entirely new, I decided to stay in the same musical neighborhood. Using ideas from Meditation, I wrote two other movements— Cadenza, inspired by practice room improvisations, and Perpetual Motion, embracing the liberation of broken chords—and ended up with Triptych

—© Aiden Kane

All seven titles which comprise The Little Things come from Emily Dickinson, who never fails to direct our attention toward nature’s easily overlooked wonders. Movements II, III, IV, and VI evoke various animal life, while I and V portray the sun and moon respectively. The order of the movements suggests the cyclic journey of all living things from morning to night to a new morning. In the final movement, we hear the voice of Nature singing Dickinson’s famous lines:

If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain; If I can ease one life the aching, Or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin Unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain.

—© Kian Ravaei

Thursday, July 27

The Reser | 8pm

Sponsor: David & Maryanne Holman

Prelude Performance | 7pm

Lobby: Union Bassoon Quartet, Natalie Alexander (solo bass clarinet) & Alexis Zou (piano) • Plaza: Portland Saxophone Ensemble

Saturday, July 29

Kaul Auditorium | 8pm

Sponsor:

Prelude Performance | 7pm Students of Hae-Jin Kim’s Violin Studio