Sonata for Violin and Piano (2015)

Premiered by violinist Clara Kim and pianist Sarah Gibson

This Sonata is my longest work to date. The first movement is relatively short and serves as an introduction to the second movement, introducing several motives that are used later.

The second movement is the emotional core of the piece. At the time I began work on this movement, certain circumstances had caused me to reflect on the random nature of change, and I became fascinated with the fact that sizeable and even life-altering changes are caused by sequences of small, seemingly insignificant events that just as easily could have not happened. This movement depicts the quiet astonishment one might feel and the thoughts that might ensue when one of these changes takes us by surprise, as they almost always seem to.

The third movement is a fun, fast, breathless ending to the piece and is written in sonata form, using a jazzy harmonic language and melodies influenced by both the blues and octatonic scales.

Clara Kim, violin
Sarah Gibson, piano