PROGRAM NOTES

Andrea Casarrubios
“luzAzul” for clarinet, cello, and piano (2016/2024)
"luzAzul" was written for Trio Appassionata's 10th year anniversary in 2016, and revised for Thomas Piercy in 2024 in this version for clarinet, cello, and piano. The work is based on the emotional duality of feeling home in two countries separated by the Atlantic Ocean, feeling a profound sadness for what is left behind, no matter the direction of the flight. This duality is reflected in the work's palindrome structure. - Andrea Casarrubios


Daniel Hass
"Tracing the Figures of Love" for clarinet, cello, and piano (2023)
"Tracer les Chiffres d'Amour" (Tracing the Figures of Love) is an old French phrase that was used in place of the word "dance." I encountered this phrase in the 1937 book "Pre-Classic Dance Forms" by Louis Horst while doing research for a ballet piece I was commissioned to write for the Revolve Dance Project. What began as a solo piano piece bloomed into a prelude-of-sorts, a meditation on lilting rhythms and floating melodies.” - Daniel Hass


Zhihua Hu
“Ruyi Niang” Inspired by Empress Wu's Homonymous Poem ​for piano (2022)
Ruyi Niang (Solo Piano Version, 2022) draws its creative essence from the renowned homonymous poem written by Wu Zetian—the only female emperor in Chinese history—during her early years of reclusion at the Ganye Temple. Written as an intimate love letter to Emperor Gaozong, the poem vividly captures the disarray of a lovesick heart, where the protagonist grows so frail and distracted that she "mistakes red for green," leaving her tears stained upon her pomegranate-red skirt.

Zhihua's musical interpretation translates this ancient longing into a powerful sonic landscape. The melody shifts fluidly between moments of tender melancholy and overwhelming emotional surges. Rather than a static portrait of sorrow, the piece reflects the
turbulent inner world of a historical figure torn between profound vulnerability and her burgeoning, monumental destiny. Through contrasting textures and expressive lyricism, the work bridges the ancient text with modern musical expression, evoking a timeless resonance of human devotion and longing. Up to the present, Zhihua has composed two versions of the piece: a trio for hulusi, cello, and piano, as well as this solo piano version featured in this concert. - Zhihua Hu

Beata Moon
“Elegy” for viola and piano (2021)
Elegy was written for Liuh-Wen Ting and Barbara Podgurski in honor of those who have passed away due to the pandemic. 


Allen Schulz

"Shattered Crystals" for flute and piano (2026)

This work was requsted by the artistic director of Random Access Music. The work focusses primarily on the flute and explores many facets of extended  techniques for this instrument as well as passages of lyrical beauty. One extended technique I have used extensively in the work is multiphonics, where the player  can use their breath and combinations of fingerings to produce as many as 4 notes at once--from the "overtone series". There are also many passages that use different kinds of tonguing.
- Allen Schulz 

Theodore Wiprud
Hichiriki Quartet"Apparitions" for hichiriki, violin, viola, and cello (2026)
My Hichiriki Quartet, Apparitions, exists because of Thomas Piercy’s unflagging advocacy for the instrument in the context of contemporary Western music. Commissioned by Tom, I undertook study of the instrument, building on my experience with Korean gugak instruments like the piri (a bamboo double-reed). Hichiriki proves to be quite different in its capabilities and its timbre, leading to music sounding distinct from what I have composed for gugak instruments. I decided to surround the hichiriki with just three string instruments, violin, viola, and cello, in the manner of, say, an oboe quartet. The subtitle “apparitions” occurred to me because of the unusual sound worlds this little double-reed led me into. - Theodore Wiprud

Commissioned by Thomas Piercy and Random Access Music, and made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Of􀀣ce of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.



Random Access Music’s programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.  This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.