Author: Ashley Killam
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Geode
Year composed: 1996Duration: 14′Instrumentation: flute, clarinet, cello, percussion, piano Movements:I. SpikyII. SparklingIII. Fast Commissioned by the Earplay Ensemble and premiered at the Yerba Buena Forum in San Francisco. Recorded on Columba aspexit album (Anthology of Recorded Music Inc.) Notes: Geode is made up of three movements, with a middle movement about twice as long as…
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Primary Colors
Year composed: 1995Duration: 12′Instrumentation: clarinet, violin, piano Movements:I. Fast, SwingingII. Delicate, FragileIII. Cheeky and Cheerful Commissioned by the Verdehr Trio and premiered in Bangkok, Thailand on East Asian tour. Notes: The title Primary Colors refers to outer movements one and three. The music in these movements is bright, strong, fast and fun, with lots of…
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Back to Square One
Year composed: 1998Duration: 10′Instrumentation: violin and piano Commissioned by Karen Bentley and premiered in Menlo Park, CA, Spring 1998. Recorded on la mar amarga album (Albany Records). Notes: Back to Square One explores the concept of identity through its double nature, change and stasis. It exposes and develops a primal cell even as it manifests…
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la mar amarga
Year composed: 2007Duration: 14′Instrumentation: piano trio La ma amarga was commissioned by the Noe Valley Chamber Music Society with assistance from the Carol Franc Buck Foundation. It was written for Graeme Jennings, Leighton Fong, and Christopher Jones, and premiered on April 15, 2007, at the NOe Valley Ministry in San Francisco. Recorded on la mar…
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Singing the Lines
Year composed: 2007Duration: 7′Instrumentation: soprano, flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, double bass Movements:I. “Light changes”II. “Walking, Naming It” Text by John Campion Written for soprano Lucy Shelton and the Berkeley Contemporary Chamber Players on texts by John Campion from Squaring the Circle. Notes: back to full catalog
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Turner
Year composed: 2008 Duration: 12′Instrumentation: viola and piano Movements:I. Light and ColourII. Shade and Darkness Premiered by Ellen Ruth Rose and Cindy Cox, Green Room, War Memorial Building, San Francisco, 2008 Notes: When I began this piece I had just returned from London and visits to the National Gallery and Tate museums, where I went…
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En circulo
Year composed: 2008Duration: 18′Instrumentation: alto saxophone, clarinet/bass clarinet, horn, trumpet, trombone, double bass, percussion, and piano Notes: Listening to me playing this piece, my sister said, “I hear all sorts of natural sounds, things blowing, shaking, leaves rustling, waves rolling”. The title En círculo is derived from the verb “encircle”, as approaching from the outside,…
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Wave
Year composed: 2009 (movement 3 in 2014)Duration: 8′Instrumentation: piano trio (violin, cello, piano) Movements:I. Quietly urgentII. Periodic, hypnotic, with a regular pulse like a heartbeatIII. Forceful, punchy Notes: The movements in Wave take the shape of an ever-increasing, oceanic-like wave form. The first movement is constructed around a small circular scalar fragment; the harmony gradually…
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Wave 2
Year composed: 2010Duration: 4′Instrumentation: clarinet, cello, piano Premiered in Morrison Hall, July 2010 Notes: Wave 2 takes the shape of an ever- increasing, oceanic-like wave form. This short piece is constructed around a small circular scalar fragment; the harmony gradually takes shape in a revolving motion above and below the central melody and builds into…
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Cañon
Year composed: 2010Duration: 17′Instrumentation: flute, clarinet, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, trombone, bass trombone Commissioned by the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and premiered in Herbst Theater, San Francisco, March 2011. Movements:I. HeadlongII. Tender, NostalgicIII. Strong, Punchy Notes: In 2010, Ben Simon approached me about composing a new work for the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and he…