Couleurs d'un Rêve
Jean Luc Defontaine
Changming Li, violin
Jae Eun Baek, piano
AD Recital | April 8, 2018
Jessen Auditorium, Homer Rainey Hall
The University of Texas at Austin
Lessons of the Sky
Rodney Rogers (b. 1953)
Joseph Dougherty, piano
AD Recital | April 15, 2017
Bates Recital Hall, Butler School of Music
The University of Texas at Austin
Music with Oliver
Chris Neiner, composer
Calvin Wong, soprano saxophone
Emmanuel Padilla Holguín, harp
Bob Eason, recording engineer and video editor
Summer, 2016 | Recital Hall, Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University
"In 2015, I composed Music with Oliver as a Mother's Day gift for a close friend to celebrate her first Mother's Day as a mother. With this in mind, I decided to capture the interactions between her and her child, Oliver, in a short narrative depicting Oliver's bedtime. The narrative can be divided into four distinct parts, each section portraying a different event. First, the starts twinkle in the night above Oliver and his mother, characterized by high, sparse piano writing. Then, a lullaby is sung to Oliver by his mother as he is rocked back and forth. Oliver is placed in his crib in the third section, and he is memorized by its mobile spinning in a fluid, continuous manner. Slowly, he drifts deeper and deeper into sleep. Last, Oliver dreams of flying to the moon with his mother and father. Beyond this scenario, Music with Oliver reflects on the nostalgia of remembering the growth of child who is now all done growing up." - Chris Neiner.
Elegy after Brahms
David Canfield, composer
Calvin Wong, alto saxophone
Yu Jhen Liu, piano
Feb 27, 2016 | Ford Hall, Indiana University
Canfield extracted the 2nd movement of his Trio after Brahms (for violin, alto saxophone, and piano) and arranged it for alto saxophone and piano. It was requested by Dr. Thomas Liley, whom Canfield dedicated the music to, to rearrange the piece for just alto saxophone and piano. Unfortunately, he passed away a week after he received the Elegy after Brahms. He had seen the music, but never heard it.
Dr. Liley was an important figure in saxophone history. His contributions were widely known across the globe. He was also a great mentor of mine. It was an absolute honor to play this gorgeous music in my final master's recital.