Voyageurs was commissioned by the Minnesota Youth Symphonies on the occasion of its 35^th Anniversary Season (2007-2008).  An energetic concert piece lasting 14 minutes, Voyageurs received its premiere by the MYS Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Jim Bartsch at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis on February 24, 2008. The name “Voyageurs” refers to the 17^th- and 18^th-century French Canadian fur traders who braved Minnesota’s lakes and rivers through harsh winters.  I tried to convey a sense of dynamic adventure in the opening and final sections, while the introspective middle section relates a sense of struggle or loss.

The excerpt is taken from the live recording of the premiere.  You will hear the opening 90 seconds of the work.

The Minnesota Youth Symphonies is a great organization.  To read more, please visit:

http://mnyouthsymphonies.org

I composed The Lion and the Lamb in December 2004 after hearing solo violin performances by Susan Paik, Jaewon Choi, and Jinwoo Lee in New York.  I was struck by the variety of expression and the personal vocal quality of the unaccompanied violin.  In this work, I wanted to combine and contrast two different personalities within the solo instrument: an aggressive, dominating side and a humble, self-effacing side.  The work is roughly 8 minutes long and is dedicated to The Juilliard School’s Class of 2005.

Performer: violinist Susan Paik performed the premiere of this work in April 2005.  A doctoral candidate at Indiana University, Ms. Paik has studied with Mauricio Fuks, Sylvia Rosenberg, and Hyo Kang.  She is a graduate of The Juilliard School, Seoul National University, and Manhattan School of Music, as well as an accomplished chamber musician and experienced educator.  She was an original member of the Asiana String Quartet.  This recording was taken from Ms. Paik’s 2005 recital at The Juilliard School.

My English Horn Sonata was commissioned by Hidden Valley Music Seminars (Carmel Valley, CA) for Thomas Stacy, my close friend and English hornist of the New York Philharmonic.  Tom holds an annual English horn seminar at Hidden Valley, and I have served as the staff accompanist for his seminar each year since 2003.  Tom and I premiered the Sonata at our annual Hidden Valley recital on August 3, 2008.  Please visit Tom’s website at:

www.thomasstacy.com

For more information on Hidden Valley Music Seminars, please visit their site here:

http://www.hiddenvalleymusic.org

The Sonata lasts 20 minutes in four movements:

I. Pastorale (6 minutes)

II. Scherzo (3 minutes)

III. With devotion (5 minutes)

IV. Finale (6 minutes)

The recorded excerpts are taken from my doctoral graduation recital at Indiana University in April 2009.  You will hear the opening of the Scherzo (an athletic, elusive, sarcastic movement in the spirit of Prokofiev’s D Major violin sonata scherzo), and the opening of the lyrical, nostalgic third movement.

Performer: The English hornist in this recording is Jennifer Berg, a recent graduate of Indiana University where she studied with Linda Strommen.  She is currently an oboe student of John Ferrillo at New England Conservatory. 

Violinist Annedore Oberborbeck commissioned a concerto from me in 2003, and I elected to compose for a smaller ensemble: solo violin and woodwind quintet.  Annedore premiered the work at New York’s Alice Tully Hall in April 2003.  

The first movement, Risoluto, is a four-minute-long flurry of activity that begins with monolithic chords in the winds and quasi-Baroque figuration in the violin.  In the recording, you will hear the transition from the middle section back to the recapitulation, which is set in motion by rapid scales in dialogue between violin and winds.

The second movement alternates slower, lyrical sections with humorous Scherzando writing.  The recorded excerpt presents the opening of this movement, in which the violin melody gradually surfaces as if emerging from fog.

Performer: German violinist Annedore Oberborbeck studied with Masao Kawasaki at The Juilliard School and currently resides in Berlin.

Liturgies: five movements for chamber orchestra

I composed Liturgies under the guidance of David Dzubay at Indiana University.  The premiere was conducted by Dongmin Kim at Indiana University in April 2009.  The title Liturgies does not refer to a specific religion or ritual, but rather to general human activities such as coming together, cooperating, interacting, and separating.  Even the act of meeting to hear a concert of new music can be viewed, quite generally, as some sort of liturgy, or communal action. 

You will hear the complete third movement, Meditation, which was composed in a single span of about three hours.  The A-Bb pedal point in the harp and vibraphone sweetly clashes with E Major chorale fragments in the winds.

I have also included the fiery opening of the final movement, Exhortation.  This opening takes up melodic materials from the fourth movement, Devotion, but in a more aggressive manner.  Viola and trombone share the opening melody line with alternating accents.  Following this opening, a gradual ritardando occurs, leading to a restatement of the theme from the first movement, Procession.  

Performer: Conductor, violist, and Indiana University alum Dongmin Kim now resides in New York City.  He is an accomplished conductor of contemporary music and a former Assistant Conductor of the Indiana University New Music Ensemble.