Miniatures (2022) ~7’

for youth string orchestra

Commissioned by the Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestra (TRYPO) and premiered by Hannah Ishizaki and the TRYPO Symphonette at Heinz Hall.

For me, what makes playing the violin so fulfilling is being able to play together with other people. When you play in an orchestra or a chamber group, you are breathing together with your peers and creating sound that could only be made as a community. Miniatures is a piece in two contrasting movements, each movement exploring what it means to play with a communal sound. The first movement is lyrical, with canonic melodies that pass between instruments, eventually building to a climax. The second movement is energetic and includes two main themes: one rhythmic and driving and the other passionate and dramatic.