for solo violoncello – c. 9.5′
Commissioned by Lily Stern
Premiered December 15, 2024 in Pierce Hall, New England Conservatory
I wrote reach, recede for Lily’s graduation recital from the Tufts/NEC program inspired by our conversations about “trance” from her music psychology coursework. Specifically, considering the concert hall as a ritualized space for altered states of consciousness and connecting the performer and audience through sensitive treatment of the instrument.
This piece is built on boundary lines— between pure tones and their rich harmonic spectra, between clean playing and dirtied noise, between improvisation and metrically grounded harmony— reaching and receding across points of transformation.
It has been such a gift not only to work with Lily on this piece, but to get to know her through these past few years of Tufts/NEC. It is my great honor to be trusted and interpreted by her.
quinnoise 