Music for Stones (2022) ~7’

percussion quartet [small, medium, and large rocks]

Premiered by Simon Herron, Will Hopkins, Oliver Xu, and Parker Meek on May 12, 2022. Recorded by Jakob Schoenfeld, Will Hopkins, Oliver Xu, and Parker Meek.

“Music for Stones” is written for four percussionists playing with different sized rocks in glass bowls. In a piece with such a limited sound palette, I thought that using physical motifs and slowly introducing new gestures for sound generation would contribute to audience interaction — through the process of experiencing expectation and tension and discovery. The beginning of the piece sets up a two-part gesture, the raising and subsequent dropping of rocks, which becomes a focal point and punctuation as new movements and sounds are introduced. As the piece develops, I explore what are all possible ways of “playing all together” may mean.