THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY College of Music presents
Polymorphia FSU New Music Ensemble
Liliya Ugay, Director
Brian Junttila, Graduate Assistant
Celebration of Life: Sarah Gibson and premieres by FSU Composers
With Special Guests
Noël Wan, Harp
Marcy Stonikas, Soprano
Geoffrey Deibel, Saxophone
Friday, November 22, 2024
6:00 p.m. | Opperman Music Hall
To Ensure An Enjoyable Concert Experience For All…
Please refrain from talking, entering, or exiting during performances. Food and drink are prohibited in all concert halls. Recording or broadcasting of the concert by any means, including the use of digital cameras, cell phones, or other devices is expressly forbidden. Please deactivate all portable electronic devices including watches, cell phones, pagers, hand-held gaming devices or other electronic equipment that may distract the audience or performers.
Recording Notice: This performance may be recorded. Please note that members of the audience may at times be included in this process. By attending this performance you consent to have your image or likeness appear in any live or recorded video or other transmission or reproduction made in conjunction to the performance.
Florida State University provides accommodations for persons with disabilities. Please notify the College of Music at (850) 644-3424 at least five working days prior to a musical event to request accommodation for disability or alternative program format.
Penn Station (2024) Christopher Chiarotti (b. 2003)
Kaitlyn Calcagino, flute; Brad Pilcher, clarinet; Hannah Farmer, bassoon
Timothy Thomas, percussion; Xiaoyuan Cao, piano; Emelia Ulrich, violin
Maya Johnson, viola; Param Mehta, violoncello; Maximilian Levesque, double bass
Christopher Chiarotti, conductor
The Reverberation of Summer (2023)
Kuan-Yu Yang (b. 2002)
Geoffrey Deibel, saxophone; Claire (Parky) Park, flute; Brad Pilcher, clarinet; Eric On, horn
Connor Altagen, trombone; Timothy Thomas, percussion; Maximilian Levesque, double bass
Brian Junttila, conductor
Stand Notwithstanding Grief (2024) Raúl Parra (b. 2004)
Noël Wan, harp; Kaitlyn Calcagino, flute; Brad Pilcher, clarinet; Timothy Thomas, percussion
Xiaoyuan Cao, keyboard; Emelia Ulrich, violin; Param Mehta, cello
Liliya Ugay, conductor
Erased (2024)
Alec Carrillo (b. 2003)
Rebecca Johnson, oboe; Caleb Wolf, saxophone
Da Hee Kim, piano; Param Mehta, cello; Max Levesque, electric bass
Artur Akshelyan, conductor
Rough Sea Birds Ky Nam Nguyen (b. 1996)
Marcy Stonikas, soprano; Noël Wan, harp; Claire Park, bass flute
Because of Flowers... Nicholas Villane
I. Fallen Petals (attacca) (b. 1996)
II. Bouquets of Roses
III. Flor de Maga
Claire Park, flute; Brad Pilcher, clarinet; Sami Smith, percussion
Becca Harrison, piano; Maya Johnson, violin; Param Mehta, cello Brian Junttila, conductor
pull no more Liliya Ugay (b. 1990)
Noël Wan, electroacoustic harp and live playback* *live effects designed by Noel Wan
I prefer living in color
Brad Pilcher, clarinet; Timothy Thomas, percussion; Da Hee Kim, piano
Emelia, Ulrich, violin; Maya Johnson, viola; Param Mehta, cello Liliya Ugay, conductor
NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
Chiarotti: Penn Station
Sarah Gibson (1986–2024)
Penn Station was written for the 2024 Brevard Music Festival a couple of months after a trip to New York City. In May of that year, I visited Manhattan for the first time since several years before the COVID pandemic. Growing up on Long Island, I would take the Long Island Railroad from Massapequa into Penn Station several times a year with my parents. This time was no different, and on the returning train with my father back to Long Island, the idea for this piece struck me suddenly upon hearing the announcement sound: a vibraphone. I began drafting Penn Station promptly upon returning to my apartment in Tallahassee in preparation for the Brevard Festival, where I worked alongside incredible faculty and colleagues. Penn Station was initially drafted for chamber orchestra. The reduction of this piece for nine musicians was written for the Polymorphia Ensemble at Florida State University.
Yang: The Reverberation of Summer
The idea for this piece emerged during winter, inspired by a desire to recall the warmth and vitality of summer. The chosen percussion instruments mimic sounds associated with summer—such as cicadas and wind chimes. The drifting chords in the wind instruments primarily consist of seconds(interval) and are played with exaggerated vibrato, creating a soft yet flowing sound effect. The embellishments from the double bass add color to the entire piece. Overall, the piece can be divided into four sections.
Parra: Stand Notwithstanding Grief
Unlike most of my music, Stand Notwithstanding Grief began without an idea or message, rather it developed into that as the writing for it continued. Created from a small seed of unknown lament, I would start writing this piece just to experiment with my process as a composer by messing about with the tuning of the piano, unaware of these emotions unconsciously pushing the music forward. I would slowly find the root and meaning behind this discomfort over a couple months while I chipped away at this piece little by little, and as that happened, I found a level of acceptance with that grief, of being okay with being a little sad every so often. It’s not like I’ve never gone through the grieving process before and I’ve learned to move forward, but I felt that this was a very specific kind of emotion.
I don’t think I’m alone in this feeling, of having to go through these small bits of lament somewhat consistently. I believe it is very common, and the idea that so many of us can individually go through this silent sorrow and still choose to be who we are and to do what we do is remarkable. It brings me comfort. I don’t think we can always move on or get over everything, I think a lot of the time we simply adapt to living without that which we’ve lost to the best of our ability. It is from there that joy can be reborn, that it can thrive, with that small bit of sadness at its side making it whole, making it just so much more valuable.
Carrillo: erased
In the time leading up to the writing of this piece, I became increasingly interested in memories and how they are processed. The subject of my interest was the intentional and sometimes unintentional alteration of certain memories. I found that whether due to trauma or misinformation, people can completely reform memories based on internal or external influence.
I sought to explore this idea and write a piece based on this concept. There is a short and specific rhythm that appears throughout the piece alongside malleable fragments of melody which are presented straightforwardly. As the piece progresses, these melodies and rhythms change in small ways. With slight metric and harmonic disruptions, the material changes into something strikingly similar but fundamentally different.
Nguyen: Rough Sea Birds
Rough Sea Birds, composed for soprano, bass flute, and harp, is inspired by my mother’s poetic reflection on her youth. When my mother was a young girl, a hometown boy fell in love with her with an affection as pure as “a cool stream.” However, my mother was a budding and ambitious writer who was chasing dreams of the city’s bright lights and her glorious literary idols, so the boy’s innocent love was not what she could reciprocate. That young man later joined the army and tragically lost his life during the Cambodian-Vietnamese War, in which Vietnam intervened to end the reign of terror and genocide of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge (Communist Party of Kampuchea).
After her dreams were shattered in the city, my mother returned to her coastal hometown and worked at a plant protection station for several years. During a rough sea season, the sight of birds flying inland from the stormy sea poignantly brought forth memories. Therefore, she composed this poem as a reflection of love, loss, war, and peace in her past. Her poem resonated profoundly with some of my own personal experiences, so I composed this work.
Below is my English translation of the poem:
Rough sea birds
Flutter back through the still sky.
The birds return to land as spring begins to bloom
Winter fades with heart-piercing cold.
I put fresh flowers in an old vase. The morning sun floods my place. The instrument’s been tuned, and I’ve been waiting. Spring has come, but you won’t return.
Spring returns; I grow one year older I look back, and everything has changed Dreams turn into illusions
I let my soul drift in the clouds.
I watch the eagle soar over the mountain peak, Treading past the cool stream that flows around us
One day, he was shot by an arrow and plunged into the abyss. As the stream calls for its source, I realize it’s you.
In a tranquil morning, I wrote poems about those who have gone forever
The silent ones who let spring waken Flowers smile as maidens knit
Oh, everything seems so peaceful
On the roof, sparrows chatter
I write this poem for you, though you will never read it. The posterity will understand the price of life!
Villane: Because of Flowers...
Few things in life provide as much simplistic joy as flowers. There are nearly as many uses for flowers as there are variety. They can be gifts for loved ones, uplift spirits for healing, mark moments of celebration, provide comfort for the mourning, or give a rush by catching the bouquet at a wedding. Whether they are beautiful decorations or welltended in a garden, sometimes it’s nice to just stop and smell the flowers.
Because of Flowers... comprises of three movements. The first two movements are performed together without pause. Fallen Petals is introspective, and serene. As wonderful as flowers are, eventually the petals will fall, such as chapters will end in life. As the beauty of the plant fades, solace can be taken in the joy that they once gave. Bouquet of Roses focuses on a repeating harmonic pattern, with lush harmonies and solos.
The Flor de Maga is the national flower of Puerto Rico. It’s a beautiful flower with vivid colors that bears a resemblance to a hibiscus. Flor de Maga is inspired by those that have welcomed me with kindness, opened their homes to me, and shared their culture and traditions from Puerto Rico. This movement is lively and upbeat, reflecting on joy and
laughter that’s been lovingly shared. The work is dedicated to the Flores-Ortiz family. Without the generosity they shared, this work would have never existed.
Ugay: pull no more pulling the strings repeatedly is like giving a birthyou feel the constant pulling of your spine-string yet before the heavy work of pushing starts. the only consoling thought is that the exhausting sensation will eventually be over in the greatest release both bodies deserved, but no one knows when that long-awaited moment arrives until then – endure
Gibson: I prefer living in color
I prefer living in color, is inspired by David Hockney’s Snails Space, a gigantic painted landscape of shapes with a shifting light installation created to represent Los Angeles’s Mulholland Drive. This vivacious artwork impacted the melodic structure and energy in my piece. Beginning with a lyrical melody and morphing to a rock band-like groove, I was imagining the many vibrant colors of Hockney’s painting shifting in and out of foreground and background. These musical structures represent both the changing landscapes in Hockney’s painting and also the energizing curves and changing views found along Mulholland Drive.
In memoriam of Sarah Gibson:
Born in Spartanburg, SC and raised in Alpharetta, GA, Sarah Gibson was enamored with music at an early age. She begged her parents for piano lessons, and it quickly paid off. By the time she graduated high school, Sarah was an accomplished performer — winning competitions and playing with the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra. She was already making waves as a composer, too, and went to Indiana University, double majoring in piano performance and music composition. Sarah later received an MFA and a DMA from the University of Southern California.
Sarah was known as a warm and passionate instructor, eager to share her love for new musical ideas. She taught at USC, Colburn, the University of California - Santa Barbara, and most recently, California State University - Long Beach. She also spent ten years as a teaching artist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Composer Fellowship Program, in which she mentored high school-aged composers and facilitated the performances of their original compositions.
Sarah also rapidly became a fixture in the new music community, especially within Los Angeles. As a performer, she had a reputation as a first-rate collaborator. Her piano duo HOCKET (with Thomas Kotcheff), which the Los Angeles Times deemed “brilliant,” was a constant in the L.A. new music scene, performing frequently and commissioning dozens of new pieces, which quickly led to booking performances around the country. HOCKET’s success in the
field led to Sarah and Thomas’ induction as CORE artists into PianoSpheres, a premiere collective of pianists who focus on new music.
Sarah’s compositions, meanwhile, gained increasing notice. She regularly channeled her passions and curiosities into inventive pieces for everything from solo piano to full orchestra. She received a Copland House Residency and commissions from the League of American Orchestras and the Toulmin Foundation, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Tanglewood Music Center, Aspen Summer Music Festival & School, Grossman Ensemble, and Seattle Symphony, among others. Her music has been performed all over the world, by such esteemed bodies as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the BBC Philharmonic, and the Seattle Symphony, to name a few. And her work has been performed at such venues as the Hollywood Bowl and Royal Albert Hall in London.
Sarah had almost completed a new orchestra composition for the BBC, beyond the beyond, when she passed away. Thomas Kotcheff is putting the finishing touches on it for her and it will be premiered by the BBC Philharmonic in March in Manchester, England.
Sarah was not only an inspiring teacher and singular talent. She was also a wonderful, devoted wife, mother, daughter, and friend. Her generosity of spirit and commitment to lifting up other creatives is the very soul of The Sarah Gibson Foundation and all its efforts.
To hear more of Sarah’s music and learn more about her career, please visit sarahgibson-music.com.