Tuesday Night New Music

Tuesday Night New Music is a student-run, faculty-supervised concert series that offers the opportunity to hear music by the next generation of composers: current NEC composition students. The series is directed by Katherine Balch '14 Tufts/NEC and Neal Markowski '13, under the supervision of composition chair Michael Gandolfi.

The notes on these works were written by the respective composers.

Julian Korzeniowsky Milosc
Nina Guo, Anne Marie Hruskoci, soprano
Elizabeth Dickerson, mezzo-soprano
Alec Smith, tenor
Zachary Johnson, Zachary Crowle, bass

Milosc ("Love") is a Polish poem written by Maria Pawlilowska-Jasnorzewska.

Ethan D’Ver Nocturnal Movement
Yijuan Geng, piano

Nocturnal Movement, which I composed last spring, touches upon two traditional forms: theme and variation, and rhapsody. The beginning section evokes an eponymous mood and presents the main musical ideas. The material is then freely developed through continuously flowing episodes of contrasting styles.

Jonas Tarm Postlude, Dernier Cri
Shengnan Li, violin
Chris McCarthy, piano

Tonight you will hear two short pieces of mine, both for violin and piano, that represent final statements. A few months after writing Two Pieces for Violin and Piano (October 2011; recording available on YouTube and SoundCloud) for almost a full year, I felt that piece could still echo its resolution. This was the genesis of the work completed in two days: Postlude (March 2012). As an echo of resolution, Postlude is a short poetic piece in ABA form.

The second piece, Dernier Cri (March 2012), is a colorful and virtuosic encore also for violin and piano.

Der - nier Cri \ dern- yā- krē\ n
1. The newest fashion.
2. Last word.
Origin: French, literally, last cry.

Jay Mobley Le Petit Prince
Gillian Cotter, mezzo-soprano
Clara Reitz, soprano
Qiuning Huang, piano

The text for this little duet (which excerpts The Little Prince, the children's classic by Antoine de St.-Exupéry) was chosen for its childlike simplicity and charming explanation of friendship. At the time I set the text, I was enamored with the idea of successive intervals getting larger, and so the piece begins and ends with two effects that are derived from that notion. I wrote the music with two close friends in mind, and it is to them that I dedicate these little bells that know how to laugh.

Yi-Yiing Chen Piano Preludes
Friction - Lubinghua - Internal Struggle - Just Beyond the Sunset
Tong Wang, piano

I think of these four pieces of solo piano as being connected musically, somewhat like a suite. In Lubinghua (魯冰花), a tune from a Taiwanese pop song in the late 80s is borrowed, although possibly those who know the song would not notice it. Just Beyond The Sunset came in my mind when I was immersed in the sunset, and coincidentally, a poem with the same title by David Harris suited my state of mind when writing the piece.

Minyoung Sung Electronic Flute
Jisun Oh, flute

Marios Nicolaides A Sinner’s Dream
Kody Glazer, trombone
Seowon Kim, Lisa Fujita, violin
Ariel Chapman, viola
Dara Blumenthal-Bloom, cello
Eric Farnan, double bass
John Chen, piano

The title refers to the process of facing one’s actions, in this case, my acknowledgement that my lack of appreciation for what I had rendered me a sinner. It is an exploration of three different worlds: Past (introduced by the piano), Present (introduced by the strings)and Dream (trombone). It is a continuous dialogue between contrasting emotional patterns. During the composition process, I tried to experience and understand the power and effect these three worlds have on my life, and to learn more about myself through them.

Mark Goldstein Rainbow Road
Mark Goldstein, guitar, electronics
Jeff Balter, percussion, electronics

Originally inspired by the timbre of delay pedal feedback by itself, I became eager to explore the possibilities of this instrument in ensemble setting, filtering through a wash of other cheap, feedback producing electronics through a single amplifier. The name comes from a short story by Caroline B. Bennett.

Vanessa Anne Wheeler Significant Transits
Beth McDonald, tuba

Musa Qubailat Medusa
Andrew Larson, piano

Ari Sussman Oseh Shalom
Kathryn Price, Amanda Levy, Katherine Crabill, Karen Jeong, soprano
Jessica Rost, Elizabeth Wendt, Meghan Jolliffe, Vivian Buchanan, mezzo-soprano
Michael Alexander González, Timothy Ayres-Kerr, Eric N. Bowles, tenor
Dylan Evans, Wenceslas Ostasenko, bass

One of the most well-known and celebrated Hebrew texts, Oseh Shalom ("The One Who Makes Peace") concludes the Amidah, the longest and most important section of the daily Jewish prayer service. Oseh Shalom was composed to express peace through music via a beautiful yet simple melody.