Piano Concerto

Piano Concerto is my first piece for large ensemble, a 20-minute work that gently bends the expectations that come with the sonata-form piano concerto. The first movement opens with a polytonal flurry of sixteenth notes, a verdant flute primary theme in E minor, and a mysterious F-sharp Phrygian secondary theme in the piano. The second movement explores a tension between major and minor and features a forlorn theme in the strings in 2/4 + 3/8 + 3/4 time; this theme builds to a false climax, picks up in tension and tempo, and breaks free into a cathartic final statement. The third movement is a light rondo inspired by Ravel's Concerto in G, opening with a Spanish-influenced theme in the trumpet. It features a canon where this theme is played simultaneously at three different speeds.

 

I am endlessly grateful to Dr. Mark Thomas and the Anthracite Philharmonic for premiering the piece in April 2017. It was such fun to play my own music for an audience with an incredible group from my hometown!