Issuu

PERUSALSCORE

SpencerArias

forsolopiano

ThecreationofthisworkwouldnotbepossiblewithouttheimportantcontributionsofBerkleyJ.Walker.Itiscrucial thatthescienceishighlighted,byvocalizingthescientistnotealoudtotheaudiencesothattheycanlearnaboutthe researchthemusicwasinspiredby.

ScientistNote

Oftentimeswhenpeoplethinkabouthowplantswillrespond torisingcarbonemissionsand temperatures, theimagethatcomestomind isa barrenwastelandof witheredstalks.Whilethismaybethecaseinsomeregions, thetruthismuchmorenuanced thanthis. Forexample,since plantsusecarbondioxideforphotosynthesis,whichproducesthebasicbuilding blocksof life, thereisanaspectof climatechangethatis beneﬁcial toplantgrowth. Forexample,yearsof experimentalresearchincropgrowthunderelevatedcarbondioxideconcentrationsshowthat if thereissuﬃcientwater,cropproductionactuallyincreases. Sodoesthismeanthatourmental imageof witheredstalksshould bereplaced by croplandsthickwithproductivity?

Notquite,whileweknowthatincreasing temperaturesandvariableprecipitationmayreducethebenefitsof increasedcarbondioxide, thereis anotherfactortoconsider.Withthisincreaseinyieldduetohighercarbondioxidecomesageneraldecreaseinhownutritiousfood isthat comesfromtheseplants. Soeventhoughwemayhavegreateryield, thequalityof thisyielddecreases. Inmylabwearelookingataparticular mechanismthatlinkselevatedcarbondioxidewithdecreasedplantnutrition.Thislinkcomesfromaprocessknownasphotorespiration,which helpsfeed themetabolicpathwaysthatproduceclassesof vitamersknownasfolates.Weareworking toquantifyhowmuchof plantfolates comefromthisprocessof photorespirationand howclimatechangewilleffectfutureproductionof thesevitalcompounds.Thisknowledgewill notonlyhelpusbetterunderstandwhatweareinfor, butitmayalsoguideeffortstoincreaseproductionof thesecompoundsinthefuture.

-BerkleyJ.Walker,Ph.DMolecularPlantSciences,AssociateProfessorofPlantBiologyatMichiganStateUniversity

ProgramNote

Photorespiration isonepieceoutof acollectionof newworksinresponsetoandcollaborationwithagroupof plantscientists, inthiscase, BerkleyWalker, inhistalk “TheFutureof PlantNutrition.”Asyoucanseebelow,quiteabitof nuancegoesintotheeffectsof ClimateChangeon theBiologyof Plantsand theimpactthatbiologyhasontheessential nutrientsrequired foroursurvival. Onething thatpeopleoutsideof the sciencefieldsoftenstrugglewithisthesearchfortruthand howthattruthisever-evolving. So, forinstance,plantscientistsdiscovered that highercarbondioxidelevelsincreaseplantyields,soformanyof us,wemightimmediatelysaycarbondioxideissuitableforplants,yetas Berkleypointsout, thatdoesnottakeintoconsiderationthedecreaseinplantnutrition,whichisalsoanimportantpointtobeawareof.The nuanceof scientificresearchispartof whatthispieceexplores. Musicallyspeaking, Iwaslooking toevokeasoundworldof amixof desolation (witheredstalks),contemplation,and thisjuxtapositionbetweenwhatweknowandwhatwedon’t. Quitequickly, itbecameclearthatthe worldsbuiltbyJapaneseFilmmakerandAnimatorHayaoMiyazakiand hisfrequentcollaboratorcomposerJoeHisaishiweresomething I wanted toexploreasmanyof hisfilmsconnecttothisideaof humanity’srelationshiptonature. Plantsareanessentialpartof ourexistence,and havingacloserrelationshipandunderstanding iscritical tocontinuing thisco-existence. Unlikeotherworksinthisproject, thispiecerelieson metaphorsignificantlymorethangesturalresponsestodataorsurface-level featuresasitdoesinmywork, the“inefficienciesthatfeedus,” Itis muchmoreaboutpaintinganimpressionof aworld thatwearestill trying tounderstand fullyandareregularlyatoddswith.

PerformanceNote

Thispieceshoulduseaheavyamountof sustainpedaling throughout. I havenotindividuallymarkedwheretopedalspeciﬁcally astonotclutterthescore, buttheresonanceof thepedalingshould beallowed tosustainthroughthelengthsof phrases, butI leaveuptothepianisttowhatextantthatphrasing lookslikebeyond interpretationof Slursandphrases.

Instrumentation

Piano

PERUSALSCORE

CommissionedbytheFallingTreeCollaborative assupportedbytheNationalScienceFoundation.WrittenforYoon-WhaRoh

Duration: 5 minutes30seconds

Firstprintingof thisedition, March2025

Photorespiration

WithSolace =144