Commissions

Classical music must press on into the future, and the best way to ensure its forward movement is by making more of it. But not just any kind of new music - the kind that tells a story and leaves you wanting more.

Miniatures for Cicely by Jocelyn Hagen

Jocelyn Hagen was one of the first composers I thought of when I decided to make the idea of a commission project a reality. Not only is she an incredible composer, singer, pianist, and artistic role model, she is also a dear friend. And when your friend writes a piece for you, it’s extra special! Working with Jocelyn on this was fun, challenging, mind-opening. I didn’t know if some of her ideas were possible on the cello, and I had to be creative to find ways to make them so. Who would have thought a cello could play three lines at once? Jocelyn did, and I am so grateful to her for bringing her voice and creativity to the cello. Each movement has a different personality and story to tell, ranging from fiery to charming, sensitive to surprising, and everything in between. I know this piece will quickly become a staple of the solo cello repertoire.

Reminiscenza by Arsentiy Kharitonov

How I came to find the brilliant Russian composer and pianist Arsentiy Kharitonov is a story that can only be told in the 21st century. It was on YouTube, a video of him playing one of his dynamic and fascinating Etudes for Piano, which I instantly loved and wondered, “Who is this guy and will he write a piece for cello?” So I decided send him a message to see if anything would come of it. And something did! A few months later an incredible piece was in my inbox. Since he lives in Dallas, we spent several months sending videos and voice recordings back and forth to get it into shape, and when recording time came around he flew up to Minneapolis for the session (I happened to get a bad case of tonsillitis, but the show must go on!). Reminiscenza is dark, passionate, yearning, defiant piece. It seems to reach out from a different time and shake your soul. What an honor it is to play it and to have also gained a friend. Thank you, Arsentiy!

From the Zodiac by Peter John

From the Zodiac is my first solo commission piece. It is fierce, edgy, hypnotizing, and pushes musical and technical boundaries. It is one of the pieces I played at my debut recitals at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and Merkin Hall in New York and many other places, all to standing ovations! I’m so grateful that Peter John agreed to write this piece for me. He is a risk-taker and outside-the-box thinker, as evidenced by the entirely improvised middle movement and the tuning down of the strings multiple times while playing in the last. Peter is one of those unbounded, multi-talented musicians who can go from improvising jazz on the piano to producing electronic music to writing serious classical pieces. He and his piece pushed me to explore and be brave on stage, and I couldn’t be prouder to represent his contribution to the cello repertoire.