Event Detail

PROGRAM: 
Chris Carter - Building Character
Antony Yu - Remembrance
Kaira Hagen - Waltz of the Jellyfish
Evelyn Roberts - Irreparable - In 4 continuous movements (Awakening, Cataclysm, Spectres, Hope)

Performers:
Cello - Robert Bui
Piano - Melissa Evans Tierra
Percussion - Alexander Leong
Conductor - Zachary Konick
 

PROGRAM NOTES: 

Chris Carter - Building Character 
The inspiration I had for this piece came from the incessant struggles I myself faced as well as acquaintances of mine within the last year. Challenges face us every day, and college just adds to it. Job, food, and housing insecurity plague college students and I watch as they fight to regain control over their lives and desperately seek out some semblance of fulfillment for their basic needs. Even through adversity though, the beauty of humanity shines through. I spent my last dollar paying for a meal for a friend. A friend shared the last bit of food in his fridge with me. The cyclical nature of kindness persists in spite of all. This piece is dedicated to all kind individuals.

Antony Yu - Remembrance
Remembrance plays around mainly with three meters. Starting off in 11/8, the next two sections are loosely in 6/8 and 5/8. As if the initial meter was fragmented into groups of 6 and 5, this concept also applies melodically by recycling ideas in various different contexts. I often play with sequences and the circle of fifths which is featured in the second section in 6/8. With much more active instrumentation and variation along with a greater focus on harmonic movement rather than distinct melodies the reappearance of a short three note motif becomes less noticeable. Because of the difference between sections this helped me recognize that it's not always about what I initially write but what I can do to build on said material to create various options. 

Kaira Hagen - Waltz of the Jellyfish
I first found inspiration for this piece while scuba diving, and noticed a group of tiny jellyfish that seemed to undulate in a three-step pattern. Because the animals moved with one strong push followed by two weak ones, I drew the connection to the waltz form. I also took inspiration from the movement patterns of other species of jellyfish, such as the velella velella that glides across the water using the wind, and the crystal jelly, which naturally glow a bluish-green. The music features broad, soaring melodies and a blend of natural and melodic minor keys, drawing a connection to some of my previous work. The use of dynamic swells further represents that undulation, creating a piece that uses acoustic instruments to illustrate the beauty of nature.

Evelyn Roberts - Irreparable - In 4 continuous movements (Awakening, Cataclysm, Spectres, Hope) 
Irreparable is, like so much of my music, an expression of pain I can’t really describe. The first movement, Awakening, is my building horror at the world, the slow realization that I am trapped, utterly, and the sense of waking up and wanting to go back to sleep forever. The second movement, March, is a sharply rhythmic passage, the policy of hyperfocus, forcing oneself to keep going. The theme developed here and echoed for the rest of the piece is taken directly from the improvisation I played minutes after I found out I would never hear from one of my friends again. The third movement, Cataclysm, expands upon that story, of two of my friends, who, by no fault of their own, hurt each other beyond any hope of repair. It is based on another improvisation I did at the edge of sanity, meant to express chaos and pain and despair, the sort of thing you play because nothing is enough, until the roar consumes everything. The movement fades out into the beginning of Spectres, the fourth movement, the emptiness after everything is gone. The slow, fragmented harmonics, ghosts of notes, are the memories, the spectres, of the ones whose stories I am no longer part of. I still see them, in my mind, their eyes, their latticed arms, and I hear their music. But I can only hope that things worked out for them, somehow. Which is what inspired the last movement, Hope. From what little I learned afterwards, their story has kept going, with hope and pain and abandonment and forgiveness. Somehow, after months of trying to process it all, I am more at peace than I thought possible. Somehow, it is enough to know that the story is not over. I’ve realized that the story never ends, really. And all of the wonderful and horrible things that implies.