Category: Compositions

2012+10 Fourths + Fifths

“Fourths + Fifths” is the first of three movements from Kenza (2012), and the fourth movement in the cycle of nine in Children’s Suite (2007-2014). It was composed the year my second child Kenza was born. Like all the other movements in the suite, it’s written entirely on the white keys of the piano, in pandiatonic C… Continue reading 2012+10 Fourths + Fifths

1997+25 urfunk etude

urfunk etude (1997) is for solo piano with or without electronics. In terms of the sequences of minimalist canonic material and the parallel alignments of pitch, rhythmic structure and register, it is a precursor to my string quartet Madra (1999) and other works. It also builds upon a particular piano technique that worked around my limitations as… Continue reading 1997+25 urfunk etude

1989+33 Void

“Void” (1989) is an art pop song from my student days. One of my weirder, nerdier numbers, in it I still sought to be groove-based. It was recorded quickly along with other songs in a late night session, and included on my DIY album Sleepdancing. “Void” posed an existential question that required a complex musical answer.… Continue reading 1989+33 Void

1992+30 Prepared Piano Piece No. 2

Prepared Piano Piece No. 2 (1992) is an unscored, improvised work combining live performance and experimental tape technique. It was created and recorded the day after Vermilion. Both pieces are part of a set of short works for prepared piano(s) which, as it would turn out, were created three weeks before the death of John… Continue reading 1992+30 Prepared Piano Piece No. 2

1992+30 Vermilion

Vermilion (1992) was originally a song for two voices, two prepared pianos and household-object percussion, part of a set titled “Four Home Dubs” from my early 4-track cassette efforts. This instrumental presents the two prepared pianos on their own, digitized from the original master cassette 20 years later. The recording was made during a stay… Continue reading 1992+30 Vermilion

Li’l Shadd: A Story of Ujima

My music was included in a concert reimagining* of the picture book Li’l Shadd: A Story of Ujima, that paired the story with music by composers of African descent. The book was originally commissioned by the Saskatchewan African Canadian Heritage Museum, and the reimagining was created for the Regina Symphony Orchestra as an online education… Continue reading Li’l Shadd: A Story of Ujima

Chaos

“Chaos, Part II” was recorded through the condenser mic on a boom box in my family’s living room, thus the wildly uneven volume of the opening. It’s a barely finished sketch meant to be part of a suite on an impromptu, DIY, “pause-record” cassette album; by default, juvenilia. This was my musical childhood. I was already 18, but… Continue reading Chaos

World Premiere: in the sea of being

On Thursday, June 23, Thin Edge New Music Collective will give the world premiere of my sextet in the sea of being as part of the inaugural edition of Reverb, at 918 Bathurst Centre for Culture, Arts, Media and Education, in Toronto. I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to work with TENMC, whom I’ve long… Continue reading World Premiere: in the sea of being