Holly Roadfeldt, artistic director
Kirk O’Riordan, conductor
Friday December 1, 2023
8:00pm
Williams Center for the Arts
Lafayette College
Program
Michael Torke (b. 1961)
Blue Pacific (2006)
Owen York, piano
Blue Pacific was written on a cliff side overlooking the sparkling Pacific Ocean in southern Mexico. The sun shines without fail, the temperature rarely strays from the mid-80s, and an ever-present breeze blows off the water. Reminiscent of this setting, a song-like melody develops through a series of keys, reaching its full height near the end. Originally called Bays of Huatulco, it was commissioned by the Stecher and Horowitz Foundation for their Third New York Piano Competition in 2006.
Jesse Monkman (b. 1975)
Parody (2001)
Abigail Harr, marimba
Parody is an exciting new 4-mallet marimba solo by percussionist/composer Jesse Monkman from Boston, MA. The piece is divided into four distinct sections each utilizing different foundations of 4-mallet playing with room for much expression and musical phrasing.
Conrad Tilroe (b. 2002)
Wake Up, the Birds are Here
Fixed Media
This piece takes place in that strange state of the mind between dreaming and wakefulness. When the sounds and experiences of the waking world bleed most directly into one’s dreamscape. There are birds chirping beyond the window, sinking strangely and distorted into the dream. The slow bending texture flows up and down as the dreamer comes closer and closer to wakefulness. Close your eyes and drift.
Conrad is a junior at Lafayette College, pursuing a music major and a history minor. While he had played and performed as a rock and punk drummer prior to his college career, it was only upon arriving at Lafayette that he began his music studies in earnest. In addition to beginning the study of a new instrument, during his first year at Lafayette Conrad was introduced to the possibility of making his own music, including electronic settings as well as acoustic pieces. His plans for the remainder of his college career include sound installation projects collaborating with visual artists on campus and more pieces to be performed by the excellent musicians of the Contemporary Music Ensemble.
Kala Pierson (b. 1971)
Cumulus Flow (2013)
Andreas Pelekis, violoncello
Katherine Liu, piano
Kala Pierson is a sound/media artist and composer. Her work is fluid, focused on gesture and momentum rather than steady rhythms. Its “seductive textures and angular harmonies” (Washington Post) are “intricately structured, both mathematical and lyrical” (Dnevnik).
Philip Glass (b. 1937)
Etude no. VI
Phuong Nam Vu, piano
Kirk O’Riordan (b. 1968)
Ghost Lights (2023)
Video and Electronics
Ghost Lights is one of a series of pieces for video and electronics. I started working with video during the lock-down phase of the pandemic, taking inspiration from similar films like Philip Glass’s Koyaanisqatsi. My goal is not to write a “movie score” for these, but rather to treat visual and auditory images equally, letting them compliment each other rather than complete.
The film component is a highly distorted, slow-motion rendering of video I shot at a Journey concert in Atlantic City.
Owen York (b. 2003)
Memorial Day (world premiere)
Brian Morris, flute
Emily Rice, clarinet
Maria Soukup, violin
Andreas Pelekis, violoncello
This piece attempts to convey the sensation of a warm, youthful, fleeting memory. The repetition
of the melody represents an attempt to preserve past feelings, and the eventual realization that
this period of one’s life only now exists in pictures. Reflecting on prior times such as these,
provides a mournful and poignant, yet simple and accessible experience.
Owen York began playing piano at age 6. He started playing and writing his own music soon
thereafter. Owen has performed in contrasting settings throughout his lifetime, including onstage
with jam band Umphrey’s McGee, gigs in jazz clubs with many prominent artists, cocktail
events, and the halftime of a New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden. Since he was
very young, Owen was exposed to a host of musical styles. Consequently, he would create
original themes for his favorite movies, books, and stories he had written. At age 20, his love of
painting musical pictures has only grown stronger. Owen feels very fortunate to have his
passion supported by the Lafayette Music Department and community.
Conrad Tilroe
What Has the Grass on the Village Green Seen? (world premiere)
Brian Morris, flute
Emily Rice, clarinet
Maria Soukup, violin
Andreas Pelekis, violoncello
This piece is an exploration of memory, in particular the difficulty of remembering. The struggle to hold onto or discern memories that are confused or slipping away and the fear of finding something painful hidden in a mass of recollections are among the emotional states that work expresses. The sounds drift between a feeling of distance from childhood and the confusion of adolescence. It attacks the ears, a constant tension that while one struggles to get used to it, it continues to press more and more intensely upon the senses. It should leave a ringing in your ears. It should feel inescapable. And, like the memories it seeks to describe, it should be hard to conjure the sounds in your ears when you try to remember it later, even while the feelings brought forth remain vivid. Let it wash over you.
All program notes were written by the composers.
About LCCME
The Lafayette College Contemporary Music Ensemble is comprised of some of the most experienced and accomplished instrumental performers at Lafayette College. Membership in the ensemble is by invitation of the director. The core instrumentation of the ensemble is Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone, Violin, Violoncello, Double Bass, Piano, and Percussion. Other instruments and players are added as required by the repertoire.
LCCME performs music by 20th- and 21st-century composers: established masters, emerging artists, and students. Now in its twelfth season, LCCME has premiered over 30 new pieces, all of which were composed specifically for–or by–the ensemble. LCCME has also performed music by master composers Arvo Pärt, John Cage, George Crumb, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Terry Riley, and others .It performs one-two concerts each academic year. The ensemble specializes in performing works by Lafayette student composers: among these are two chamber operas, works for electronics, music for film and multi-media, and numerous chamber ensembles. LCCME regularly incorporates electronics, improvisation, video, lighting, and theatrical elements into its programs.
Composition at Lafayette
Students who wish to study composition at Lafayette typically begin their work with the Music Theory sequence of courses, often culminating with MUS 324: 20th Century Harmonic Practice. At some point in that sequence a student will take MUS 249: Introduction to Composition, and its sequel, MUS MUS 325, Composition Seminar. Courses in Orchestration, electronic music, and other relevant topics are available, and students may also take private lessons.
Composition students often pursue capstone or Thesis work. Below is a list of students who have completed these kinds of projects:
Brian Payne ’23: A Blue Twilight for Chamber Ensemble and Electronics
Zach Freiheiter ’23: Dreams of the Wayfarer for Solo Alto Saxophone, Jazz Combo, and Strings
Justin Kogasaka ’22: Stolen Time for Chamber Orchestra
Anna Zittle ’22: Missed: A Chamber Opera in One Act
Eric Gourdon ’20: Leaving Port on a Shimmering Sea for Chamber Orchestra
Ashley Kushner ’19: Would I Have Broke the Happy Dream for Wind Ensemble
Marcus Salvadore ’19: Thoughts for Marimba and Live Electronics
Johnny Gossick ’18: Lecture/Demonstration in Live Coding
Sam Friedman ’11: Adagio Anteros for Chamber Orchestra
(Honors Thesis)
Opportunities for hearing performances of their works is critical for composers. In addition to public performances given by Music Department ensembles such as The Lafayette College Concert Band, Chamber Orchestra, Percussion Ensemble, and Contemporary Music Ensemble (which has performed over 30 student works), student composers have participated in reading sessions with HUB New Music and SO Percussion and in master classes with visiting composers Augusta Read Thomas, Michael Torke, Gregory Wannamaker, Anthony Lanman, Stephanie Ann Boyd, and Andrea Clearfield.