News

April featured the premiere of two new works. Nel Tardo Mezzo (In the Late Half), a sort of musical confession written for soprano, clarinet, violin and cello, and Lagrangian Point, for female voice, piano and percussion, a short, lyrical hymn to Earth, inspired by Samantha Harvey’s novel Orbital. In March, Tell es-Sakan (Hill of Ash) premiered, a concert-length protest work, written for string quartet and percussion. This work was composed from late spring to early fall of 2024, with breaks to write of If I Must Die, Let It Be a Tale, and several shorter works for solo (Adagio for Violin, Materials, Variazioni per Violino), and duo (Four Movements for Violin and Cello, Lament for Gaza).

Upcoming Concerts

Sunday July 27, 2025, 2:00 pm, Center for New Music, 55 Taylor St, San Francisco. The premiere of Piano Trio No.3 (Taming the Tantrum), a piece for violin, cello and piano divided in three movements. The first represents the unfolding of a confrontation: a tantrum, a verbal fight, or something more serious. The second the immediate aftermath, where calm is restored, but the atmosphere is still tense. The third depicts a more soothing place, where looking back and wandering what all that was about is possible.

Fall or Winter 2025. I completed the piano and soprano version of The Retraction of Isobel Gowdie, a monodrama for soprano and choir inspired by the confessions of Isobel Gowdie, a woman accused of witchcraft in early 17th-century Scotland. She left behind the longest witchcraft confession on record. You can read the libretto by clicking the image to the side, or here. The piece will be premiered with Amy Foote in the lead role, in an orchestration for small ensemble. Probably percussion, violin, cello, clarinet and piano.

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Teaching

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Some Press

A recent interview about Tell es-Sakan with Sharon Wayne can be found here, and a review of String Quartet No.7, an asynchronous piece written during the COVID pandemic here. Alongside, you’ll find an extensive interview with Carolyn Howley, featuring detailed excerpts from The Sofa, for percussion quartet, and Aquamarinus, performed by the Berkeley Symphony.

Carolyn Howley Interview

… and in the Pipeline

Other than orchestrating The Retraction of Isobel Gowdie, not very much at this point besides a short piece for piano and percussion. I might write a chamber orchestra piece for Fall 2025, or start working a new short Opera … we’ll see.