written for the 2024 NowBeat Concert

Premiered at Benzaquen Hall at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music as part of The NowBeat Concert on May 11, 2024

Simon Hagopian-Rogers, violin, Ari Peraza-Webb, cello, Elise Winkler, piano Recorded by Aaron Derwin II

more about the NowBeat Project

Duration: 7 minutes

Program Notes:

Being “Circumspect” is a personality trait of mine that I’ve been reflecting on recently. I think many can relate to the idea of often finding oneself weighing different decisions much longer than what ends up being necessary. When life decides to throw some crazy stuff at you, acting with caution is only natural, but in my experience, this wariness has developed into some difficult mental roadblocks. The idea of restraint as a form of artistic inspiration is no doubt a reoccurring theme in some of my favorite music: from Hans Abrahamsen’s “Let Me Tell You” to Andrew Norman’s “Try” to kind of the whole idea behind minimalism.  Since this trait is something that has an influence on my everyday life and seeps into my process of writing music, in an effort to learn more about myself I decided to write a piece that comes to terms with it, through various musical means. This included deciding to hone in on a few musical ideas and countering the pianistic urge to write a piano part that dominates the other two instruments in the ensemble.  What’s left is more or less a musical self-portrait of this stage of my life.