Between two chasms: concerto for violin and sinfonietta

Composed for Clara Kim and the Thornton Edge Ensemble - Donald Crockett conducting. ❧ Premier performance on February 28th, 2018 at Newman Recital Hall, USC. ❧ Duration: ca. 31 minutes ❧ INSTRUMENTATION: ❧ Flute; Oboe; Clarinet in B flat; Bassoon; Horn; Trumpet in C; Bass Trombone; Tuba; Timpani (with crotales on drumhead); 2 Percussionists; Harp; Piano; Solo Violin; 2 Violins; Viola; Cello; Bass ❧ PERCUSSION LIST: Player 1 - Metal Plate with metal beater; Kick Drum; Low Tom; Glockenspiel; Sus. Cymbal; Vibraslap; Triangle ❧ Player 2 - Vibraphone; Triangle; Sleigh Bells; Temple blocks; Sand paper; Vibraslap; Low Metal Pipe (or other low; resonant metal); Bass drum; Tam tam; Sizzle Cymbal; .... And 1 Tubular Bell: E4 (ossia: vibes) ❧ All sections performed without break: ❧ I. Mirrors on 564th Street; II. Wireframe; III. Psygnosis 1; IV. W A V E S Z O N E; V. Grid to Ocean; VI. Light Abyss; VII. If it Rains... VIII. Reflections on 564th; IX. Learning Curve; X. Cadenza Bonus; XI. Obligatory Sewer Level; XII. Psygnosis 2; XIII. Rain Repeat; XIV. Mind; XV. Code-A ❧ Program Note ❧ This is a work in search of balance. Many of my recent pieces have concerned themselves with dichotomies; conceptual, emotional, aesthetic or otherwise. Often I could not start writing until I had two opposing ideas in mind that I could “compose between.” This violin concerto for Clara Kim is inspired by several dichotomies, many of them I often feel pulled apart by when I think about music. The section titles evoke fantastic spaces and images where I have felt a certain balance might be possible. ❧ The violin soloist is a sort of traveler in this bizarre world. The player sometimes leads the orchestra, sometimes must follow, sometimes flies out of control, sometimes stands perfectly still. Occasionally there are rules as to how the violin and orchestra relate to each other, but other times the music is not really interested in such things. Three themes appear throughout the work to offer an anchor, like memories in a being otherwise lost in a world that’s too big.