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Isabelle Eberhardt was an explorer and writer who, at the beginning of the 20th century, abandoned a comfortable aristocratic life for a nomadic existence in North Africa. She was a liberated individual who rejected conventional European morality in favor of her own path. She died in a desert flash flood at the age of twenty-seven. Isabelle Eberhardt Dreams of Pianos (2007) imagines her riding on horseback through the desert, lost in thought, remembering sounds and sensations of her old life. Fragments of Schubert's A Major Sonata pierce her consciousness and are quickly suppressed. In her fatigue she dreams of a piano half-buried in sand, a flash flood of sheet music swirling around her. (Missy Mazzoli) 

 

109 Improvisations (2020) 

Jessica Johnson approached me with an idea to write a work inspired by Beethoven’s Opus 109. I began by playing it over and over again, and listening to various recordings. As I started composing, I found that I was improvising with small figures that I loved from 109. It reminded me of when I was a teenager and I used to improvise at the piano every night while my mom cooked dinner. I never wrote down these improvisations because it would have interrupted my flow. What I found as I was writing these pieces for Jessica Johnson was that I was back playing for my mom (in my imagination) but now I had such greater skill at writing things down that I could write as I improvised. Tempos should be fluid and improvisatory, and pedaling, while suggested, is at the discretion of the performer. (Elena Ruehr)

 

Italian Portraits for solo piano (2021)  

Italian Portraits is a set of four pieces that were inspired by my 2014 trip to Italy. This was my first trip outside of the United States and was also my very first flight! I was in Italy for three weeks with the Samford University Fellows Program for the culmination of our two years of study. During our time there, we travelled all around the country, including visiting Rome, Sorrento, Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Florence. Sorrento's calming shores, the catacombs of Saint Callixtus (Rome), and the nightlife of Florence were especially memorable and enjoyable for me. Additionally, seeing the devastation caused by the 79 AD eruption of Mt. Vesuvius (which buried the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis, and Stabiae) in person was unforgettable and tragic to behold. The locations that I visited on my trip acted as the influencers for these short pieces. Thank you to Dr. Johnson for commissioning me to write Italian Portraits. I am so blessed and thankful to be included in this incredible project! (Lawren Brianna Ware)

 

 Night Cafe at Arles from Van Gogh Nocturnes (2008)   

The Van Gogh Nocturnes are my response to three paintings by Vincent Van Gogh.  The second movement, Night Cafe at Arles, is an evocation of an evening I imagined in the life of Van Gogh. A French musette begins the work, then, as the evening passes and after too much drink, a darker tone emerges. I remember a mention in one of his letters to Theo, in which Vincent writes he was asked to leave the bar. In my work, I imagine after he leaves, him emerging back onto the street, with only the musette heard wafting through the streets accompanying his walk back to his little yellow house. The work was composed by nomination for the Van Kliburn invitational piano competition in 2008, and is dedicated to Christopher Taylor, who premiered it. (Laura Schwendinger)

 

On Being- this flood of stillness (2022)

The last two years have been stressful for the world. During this period, we have been shuttered away, off and on, indoors, far from family and friends. It has been a lonely time for many and yet in some ways we have been more connected through zoom and other platforms more than ever before. The poem, On Being by Denise Levertov, encapsulates what many of us feel in these remarkably challenging days. (Laura Schwendinger)

 

On Being by Denise Levertov

 

I know this happiness

is provisional:

 

the looming presences—

great suffering, great fear—

 

withdraw only

into peripheral vision:

 

but ineluctable this shimmering

of wind in the blue leaves:

 

this flood of stillness

widening the lake of sky:

 

this need to dance,

this need to kneel:

this mystery:

 

 

Circle ∆ Square for piano (2018)

When searching for ideas for this composition, I began improvising on the piano, creating many sketches. After many days of experimentation, I discovered that there were a few core ideas that continued to present themselves; I considered them as building blocks or prototype ideas. The title “Circle∆Square” is used to describe something that is foundational. In Korean cosmology, the circle, square, and triangle symbolize heaven, earth, and humankind, respectively. (Serra Hwang)

 

Sojourn for piano and percussion (2004) 

Composed for Sole Nero piano and percussion duo in 2004, Sojourn is a Korean folk drumming inspired piece. The rhythmic cycles used for the piece, such as 8+9+10+10+9 or 10+6+10+10 are combinations of patterns that are common in folk drumming, especially folk ritual music of traditional Korea. Within each cycle, groupings between 2 and 3 are constantly changing to create an active and evolving energy flow. The large recurring rhythmic cycle produces a distinctive groove. Above this groove of percussion, the piano flows more freely, singing, telling, and chanting a story. It is to give the listeners a chance to sojourn into rural Korea. (Serra Hwang)

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