the

world sonata projectS

(2020)

A precursor to the Conservation Concertos, these pieces were commissioned by musicians around the world and written about a natural material used to make the instrument or an animal closely associated with the instrument, mostly focusing on endangered species, so that we as artists may help our communities focus on gratitude and pay homage to the things we have gleaned from our wilderness and learned how to make music from. These works include Songbird for flute + piano, Pearl for violin + piano, Cedar for cello + piano, and Ebony for solo guitar.

 

World Sonata Project 2020

Cedar

for cello + piano

 

World Sonata Project 2020

songbird

for Flute + piano

world sonata project 2020

pearl

for violin + piano

World Sonata Project 2020

ebony

for solo Guitar

CATHERINE RINDERKNECHT-MORITZ iowa

LUCY YOUNG
michigan

ROBERT WILSON
idaho

cora cooper
kansas

kurt nikkanen
GREECE

katharina giegling
germany

madeline adkins
UTAH

linnaea brophy
tennessee


Joshua Devries
MICHIGAN

alan toda-ambaras
japan

jamie clark
FLORIDA

kate dillingham
CALIFORNIA

DUO970
FRANCE

BROOK FERGUSON
COLORADO

GABY VARGAS
ILLINOIS

ISABELLA WARK
british columbia

JAMIE MONCK
KENTUCKY

AARON-LARGET CAPLAN
MASSACHUSETTS

BRAD RAU
PENNSYLVANIA

PROGRAM NOTE.

“Nostrorbis” is a putting-together of the latin words for “our” and “world”, and indeed for this piece commissioned by violinists from all over the world, I wanted a title that would show what our project is attempting to do (is doing!) in one of our world’s oldest languages.

Each movement is inspired by a continent and its folk music, and the movement titles borrow from cities (or ports, in the case of Antarctica) within those continents. The first movement is akin to a fantasia, the second is inspired by one of the mesmerizing rhythms in Ghanaian traditional music, the third movement is an elegy inspired by Mexico’s acknowledgement of those who went before us in their Day of the Dead and is dedicated to all those who perished and suffered unnecessarily in the early days of the United States as it is now. The fourth movement is a dance seeking to capture the tropical beauty of those southern lands, the fifth movement is a cold meditation telling of the slow and solitary nature of our south pole. The sixth movement is a lullaby, dedicated to songs that kept languages alive in the most terrifying of times, and the seventh movement is inspired by the body-humming timbre of the didgeridoo and calls out to all listening to seek peace and love in their interactions with all fellow humanity.

My deep thanks to each of the violinists who are helping to shape this piece; we’re doing something big and beautiful here: helping the world feel a little smaller and making some music along the way.