Solo Instrumental Works

Written for Avital Mazor and the Blairsville Chamber Music Society, and premiered in Fall 2025 at "Celebrating 500 Years of Violin: a Musical Afternoon," the opening concert of the Blairsville Chamber Music Society's 2025-2026 concert season:

• Avital Mazor, violin

• Ksenia Kurenysheva, piano

Composer Note:

"and on earth" begins with a lively piano figure, over which the violin presents a wandering and chromatic melody. The energy is cheerful, but behind it is a hint of menace that rises as the violin plays increasingly intense passages. A moment of calm occurs in the earnest and lyrical middle section, and when the lively material returns, it is both more vigorous and more joyful than ever before. Similarly, our everyday experiences can sometimes be chaotic and dissonant, but every beautiful moment is an opportunity to appreciate the gift of life itself. 

Premiered in Fall 2024 at my senior degree recital at The Catholic University of America:

• Sasha Jernakoff, oboe

• Lucy Dunne, piano

Composer Note:

Subterranean Wandering is a work for oboe and grand piano that explores the idea of being lost far underground. The piece begins with oboist offstage and piano playing while the work programmed before Subterranean Wandering is still being disassembled. Here and throughout most of the work, the piano inflexibly establishes the menace of the dark depths. By contrast, the oboe portrays a heroic but uncertain character, one exploring an unfamiliar and unwelcoming environment. The piano's music does not sync up with the oboe's and often clashes harmonically, furthering the feeling of not belonging. The oboe's music seems to become lost in darkness, but after remembering the surface world and gathering courage, it pushes on. Somehow swept along by this heroic spirit, the piano ends with a short but triumphant cadenza. 

Premiered at the Fall 2025 Carnegie Mellon Composition Studio Concert:

• Evelyn Davenport, piano

Composer Note: 

The program note reads:

In the first [movement] of this [piano sonata]—

In the second [movement], we enjoy a [picnic] at the [lake]. Yes, [worms] have consumed all of our [apples] and [sandwiches] and [cookies] and [baskets] and [blankets] and—

but there is still so much to enjoy. There is still so much to do!

In the third [movement], we examine a [bouquet] of [flowers] from a [friend] we haven’t encountered in a long time. Yes, checking for [worms] would be rude, but there is still so much to enjoy. There is still so much to—

There is still so much to say! 

Premiered at the Catholic University of America Spring 2023 Baccalaureate Mass. 

Composer Note:

Ideally, a liturgical organ prelude helps to prepare the congregation for mass by setting a contemplative, prayerful tone. Help My Unbelief contemplates this ideal by beginning with dark, murky, and tragic material. It seems that the challenges of the world make peace difficult, but the second half of the prelude shifts miraculously into lyrical, flowing material and closes the piece with wonder and adoration.

2nd and 4th movements premiered in Spring 2024 at the Catholic University of America Composition Department Composition Area Concert.

Composer Note: 

This sonata's fourth movement, “Majestic,” features near-constant arpeggios and a solemn C Minor main theme. A variety of contrasting ideas and emotions eventually crash into dark, menacing material, but the main theme returns triumphantly and the movement closes in C Major.

Premiered in Fall 2024 at my senior degree recital at The Catholic University of America.

Composer Note:

Calm, meditative water is disturbed by a brief rainstorm in Reflecting Pool. The piece follows a compositional rule in which any note played above “Middle C” is mirrored by a note played an equal distance below. Following this rule emphasizes the idea of reflection, as do the stereo panning and tuning (courtesy of the electronic keyboard). I also found that the symmetrical figures created by following this rule led to unusual harmony that gave this piece a unique character. After Reflecting Pool’s rainstorm, the main theme returns distorted and settles back into its original form as peace returns to the water.