On July 17, 2020, Second Note Duo (Gabriel Costache and Will Richards) gave the world premiere of Kalimba Canon (1999). It was the final composition presented in their socially distanced, video recital A Day in the Life. Second Note contacted me a little over a month prior to the release date, and things came together quickly including sourcing instruments to play the piece. I am thrilled with the result. Funds were donated to the Black Legal Action Centre.
Two alto kalimbas play identical melodic loops, with the second kalimba echoing several beats behind the first, to create a composite musical line. Minimalism in miniature. Will (kalimba 1) recorded his part at his home in Illinois, while Gabriel (kalimba 2) recorded at his home in Colorado. The mirrored outdoor setting for this sequence in the video—sunsets near water—is a perfect one for the piece.
Composed January 1999 Recorded and premiered July 2020
Photo: team KC reunion, July 2020
Music and composer’s notes copyright Bruce A. Russell 2020
Bruce A. Russell aka Ibrahim El Mahboob (b. Kingston, ON, 1968) is a composer and self-taught pianist living and working in Toronto (Tkarón:to, the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat). He studied at York University with James Tenney and Phillip Werren. He has composed music for the Madawaska String Quartet, Modern Times Stage Company, McMaster Dancers and choreographers Pam Johnson and Tracy Renee Stafford. Interest in his work increased in 2020, with performances by Arraymusic, Prism Percussion, Second Note Duo, San Juan Symphony and Idaho Falls Symphony. He was host of Radio Music Gallery, and has written for Musicworks and I Care if You Listen. His interests are in 20th and 21st century concert music especially postminimalism, and music of the African diaspora including notated and non-notated forms. He is a parent of three and is employed in the financial sector.
Kalimba Canon is a wonderful piece and the premiere by Second Note Duo is absolutely beautiful. I am curious where you distribute the sheet music for this piece. My duo partner and I would love to perform it. We are Prism Percussion, a San Francisco based percussion duo performing works by BIPOC and other underrepresented composers.
EL MAHBOOB 
Kalimba Canon is a wonderful piece and the premiere by Second Note Duo is absolutely beautiful. I am curious where you distribute the sheet music for this piece. My duo partner and I would love to perform it. We are Prism Percussion, a San Francisco based percussion duo performing works by BIPOC and other underrepresented composers.