Reflections, for solo tuba and spoken word
Instrumentation: solo tuba and spoken word
Year Composed: 2023
Premiered in June 2023 at the International Tuba-Euphonium Conference
Program Notes:
Reflections describes the way I have grown over time. It follows me, staring at my reflection in the mirror, looking beyond the surface level to see what has brought me to this moment. It has me to reflect on how experiences from early childhood to today shaped me into the woman I am.
Due to the autobiographical nature of this work, it is not available for purchase. If you are interested in commissioning a similar work, please reach out to me.
blues & rhythm, for solo tuba
Instrumentation: solo tuba
Year Composed: 2024
Premiered in May 2024 by Meredith Fuller
Program Notes:
blues & rhythm is loosely based on the traditional gospel spiritual “There’s A Leak in this Old Building.”The lyrics to the main chorus of the song go: “There’s a leak in this old building and my soul has got to move.” This references how one sometimes needs to realize when things are no longer serving them, when their buildings have leaks, and they need to trust God to move on to something better.
The piece alternates between soulful sections that quote the theme of the song and rhythmic sections, exploring the technicality and versatility of the blues scale. It has been deliberately written with minimal expression markings to give the performer liberties in expression, often a challenge in the classically-trained paradigm. The soulful sections test the player’s ability to bring out their own soul and meaning, and the technical sections challenge the player with a variety of moods, grooves, and rhythms—demonstrating the virtuosity of the player.