Program Note

(D)evolution (2024) was written for the first piano and composition studio collaborative event at James Madison University. The piece was a way in which I wanted to incorporate the twelve-tone style into my own compositions but still stay true to my own voice. (D)evolution was inspired by a tone row written by a friend in an attempt of spitballing ideas, though the row itself (B,D,F,A,C,E,Eb,Bb,Db,Gb,F,G) is very rarely presented in a classic, strict twelve-tone style but rather permeates the composition in fragments of varying lengths, transpositions, inversions, retrogrades, and retrograde-inversions. The work can be delineated into 2 sections; the first half is reminiscent of a piano nocturne, exploring a darker side of the piano, before it slowly morphs into a fast groove-like section that grabs the listener and holds onto them until the return of the opening, but in retrograde.