Program Notes:

Schizophoria was the first composition for my master’s degree. A goal I had set for this degree was to become more comfortable writing percussion music and to gain a working knowledge of the capabilities of the more prominently used instruments. The duality of the frantic feeling of learning something new relatively quickly and the bliss of the accomplishment of learning are the two feelings I wanted to evoke in this piece. The ultimately crazy feeling from this combination helped to create the title and give direction as it developed.

The piece rocks back and forth between these two emotions, enticing the listener and challenging the performers. Drawing inspiration from some major works for marimba and honed in by teachers and friends, this piece is the first step in my learning process for percussion writing, one that will continue.