My debut album, Éros, is an exploration of emotion and memory by eight living composers through the lens of solo harp: Carly Sage, Nailah Nombeko, Kyle Wernke, Daniel Perttu, Mackenzie Jacob LaMont, Seolhee (Snow) Kim, Catherine Neville, and myself. These pieces are highly personal, both with the themes the composers wrote about but also for our close collaboration together. The two pieces of my own follow stories of love and romance inspired by dance and poetry, which became common narrative threads through the other pieces.
Special thanks go out to my primary harp teachers, Yolanda Kondonassis and the late Michelle Gwynne, and my primary compositions teachers, Jeremy Allen, Marvin Lamb, and Robert Paterson. Also thanks to commission organizers Matthew Kennedy and Jenni Brandon, without whom I wouldn’t have met Carly, Kyle, Snow, and Catherine.
Drinking Coffee on the Front Porch on a Sunny Winter Morning
This piece was written, as the name suggests, as a love letter to the times when the composer was able to sit on the front porch at her childhood home and drink coffee with her mother in the mornings. This time was extremely peaceful and quiet and the music is meant to capture the nostalgia that comes from those slow, beautiful, blissful moments. — Carly Sage
A Day in Columbus Park – Quiet Morning
This piece was inspired by Columbus Park in Chinatown, NYC. My aim was to capture the calmness and peace that was felt in the park during the summer months at around 7:45 am before all of the hustle and bustle began. Usually at this time women were practicing Tai Chi and stretching. — Nailah Nombeko
Four Scenes from Marquette, MI
My wife’s home town of Marquette, MI has become a second home for me over the years we have been together. This piece explores my deep love for Marquette and the experiences I have had there: seeing the sunrise over Lake Superior; the delicious treats available at Doncker’s Candy Shop; sunset on Presque Isle where my wife and I were married; and the old ore dock we snuck into to get an incredible wedding picture. — Kyle Wernke
Éros
The inspiration for this piece came from a dance in which two friends or lovers are shown right when one betrays the other, and the emotion that comes after a betrayal from a loved one. In this piece I have attempted to portray the complex emotions one goes through after such a betrayal, as well as the aftermath when one must decide whether to linger or move on. In my mind I imagined a metaphor with a music box, which provided some of my sound material. — Joseph Rebman
Stay For Me
In 2014 I wrote “He Would Not Stay: Seven Poems of A.E. Housman”, a song cycle for baritone and chamber ensemble which tells the story of a gay couple separated by World War I in England. This piece has always had special meaning for me, but since I am not a singer I cannot perform it myself, so in 2018 I decided to create a solo harp version. Through this process I realized I had unknowingly written a piece that loosely follows the Kübler-Ross five stages of grief, so I used similar terminology to name the movements. — Joseph Rebman
Serenade
This piece was written to capture the mysteries conjured by music being played outside at night, as was typical of serenades. Music at night can be extremely evocative of otherworldliness, and this composition is meant to convey those sensibilities. — Daniel Perttu
Water Triptych
Water Triptych invites the listener to hear their own perceptions of water during the three movements of the piece. Those who wish to hear a specific correlation to an occurrence in nature may do so (as suggested by the movement titles), or the piece may be enjoyed as an abstract exploration of water. — Mackenzie Jacob LaMont
Glittering Afternoon
Writing this piece, “Glittering Afternoon”, I pictured the essence of a delightful surprise, much like the unexpected joy found in an unfamiliar place you happen to visit or a lovely cafe on a spontaneous choice of a different way back home. I delved into the transformative power of such experiences and how they can infuse a radiant sparkle into our ordinary day. With this composition, I want to evoke magical moments, hoping that the piece can cast a twinkle upon your afternoon. — Seolhee (Snow) Kim
A Year Later
This piece is a meditation on living through momentous historical change; the quiet that follows when day-to-day survival gives way to adaptation to a new reality. The music traces feelings of grief but with optimism, loss mixed with hope, sadness and recovery.
—Catherine Neville Scan to view additional program notes and poetry
Produced by Jake “Kricket” Richter and Joseph Rebman.
Engineered and mastered by Jake “Kricket” Richter; Recorded at “The Kricket Den”, Cincinnati, OH, August 1, 2023.
Cover art and design by Haeg Design.