Tag: electroacoustic

A Cellist on the Skytrain

stereo electroacoustic track
5 min.

A Cellist on the Skytrain was composed in 2004, while I was an undergraduate student at Simon Fraser University (in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada). Being a music student, and a cellist, I would often have to lug my cello with me up to school, a journey which involved two bus connections and a skytrain. I have always been fascinated with the musicality of Metro Vancouver’s skytrains—the audible glissandi, the harmonic overtones, and the rhythmic motion of the trains were all things I could relate to as a string player. The piece is simply a field recording taken of one such journey to school, with a superimposed cello counterpoint.


Storge

stereo electroacoustic track
2 min.

Storge is an electroacoustic work, taking its name from the Greek word meaning “familial love”— the natural, instinctual bonds of affection that family members feel for one another. The piece incorporates two short quotes (both spoken in German language): one taken from a text by author Maureen Hawkins, and the other a short Biblical quote from 1 Corinthians 13:4. Weaving a soundscape around these spoken words, is a diaphanous melody played on the piano,accompanied by various other familiar, gentle, soothing sounds, including rain on pavement, springtime birdsong, a distant church bell tolling, a saxophone, and a baby laughing.

Storge was commissioned by early music ensemble La Petite Écurie, and premiered on May 18th, 2025, at Schloss Schwetzingen, Germany, as part of the Schwetzinger Festspiele.