Composers Workshop II

Saturday, December 6, 2025 at 7:30p in the Concert Hall

Program

Ryan Bell, double bass
Henrique Rabelo, piano
 

Most nights begin the same: I lie down, close my eyes, and wait. Sleep hovers just out of reach, minutes stretch, thoughts loop, and my body feels both heavy and restless. Insomnia traces that private, stubborn journey through the small hours, turning the bedroom’s hush into sound. 
     The double bass becomes the body’s narrator, breath and pulse, moving between glassy harmonics, whispered arco lines, and dry, clock-like pizzicati. The piano flickers like a bedside light and a mind that won’t power down: short patterns bead into longer chains, then dissolve. At the center comes a sudden rupture: the moment I finally drift off and my body jerks awake, the hypnic twitch that snaps the thread. The music swerves into a sharper, agitated current before emptying back into the uneasy quiet that began it, a cycle resetting itself. You’ll hear that looped arc in the score’s character cues - “Indecisive,” a jolt of “Subito Agitated,” and a return to “Wandering”; as the same ideas reappear with altered shadows. 
 

Jillian Arnold, tuba
Mariya Akhadjanova, piano
 

Written in September of 2025, Sunscape is dedicated to tuba player Jillian Arnold. The piece showcases both lyrical and technical passages, and is designed to be a fun challenge for both the soloist and their respective accompanist. Whilst not harmonically complex, the piece showcases simple melodic figures and patterns to provide its audience with an easy listening experience and a relaxing mood. Sunscape is also a piece that is encouraged to be performed on any instrument, given the usage of transposition and octave displacement when necessary, allowing for complete accessibility to any who may be interested in programming this piece.
 

Lucy Shirley, soprano and electronics
 

The story of the Goose Girl was first published by the Brothers Grimm in their 1815 collection of fairytales. In the tale, a princess is sent to marry a prince in a distant land, accompanied by her maid and her enchanted talking horse Falada. On the journey, she is betrayed by her maid, who forces her to swap places, leaving the princess to tend geese in the palace pastures while the maid assumes the role of royal betrothed in the new kingdom. The maid arranges for the princess's dear horse Falada to be killed so that he cannot reveal the truth. However, the princess begs for his head to be mounted above the stables, and she talks to him every day as she leads the geese to pasture. 
     As the piece begins, the princess suddenly hears a distant voice in the sound of the wind and realizes it is Falada speaking back to her. 
 

Jair Lopez, flute
Teagan Boeckmann, oboe
Benjamin Adam-Cramer, bassoon
 

The title Canticorum—Latin for “songs” or “chants”—reflects a meditation on the voice of the human spirit as expressed through the breath of wind instruments. Written in two movements, this work explores both introspection and vitality, using the timbral unity of the trio to weave a dialogue between stillness and motion. The first movement (Lento) unfolds with chant-like lyricism and suspended harmonies. The three instruments breathe as one, trading fragments of melody in a texture that evokes ancient liturgy and quiet reverence. The lines are deliberately unhurried, inviting the listener into a contemplative soundscape where silence and resonance hold equal importance. The second movement (Allegro) bursts forth with rhythmic energy and contrapuntal interplay. Motivic cells from the first movement are transformed into lively exchanges, suggesting joy and renewal.
 

Ignacio Perez, trumpet I
Laura Carrico, trumpet II
Matheus Silva De Souza, horn
Omar Elmusa, trombone
Jillian Arnold, tuba
 

In Sneaky One, Innocent Okechukwu explores the playful, cunning, and unpredictable side of ensemble interaction within the bold sonority of the brass quintet. The piece unfolds as a rhythmic chase — quick-footed and sly, full of shifting accents, syncopations, and unexpected harmonic turns that keep both performers and listeners on edge.