Recorded live on April 21st at the University of Southern Maine's Corthell Concert Hall.

About the suite:

Growing up in New England, I have spent my life surrounded by water.  Be it a river, a lake, or an ocean I have been lucky enough to live within walking distance of a large body of water my entire life.  Each of the three movements of this suite is devoted to a different place that I have lived and the bodies of water that neighbored them.

The Coast is written about the Atlantic Ocean, where I spent countless childhood hours walking to the beach, catching crabs in tepid tide pools and bodysurfing in the frigid waves growing up in York, Maine.  In this piece I hope to convey the atmosphere of an empty beach. The sky, a pale bluish gray, seagulls circle overhead shrieking warnings of a coming storm. The beach is still and calm; but simultaneously in sync with, and in spite of this serenity, the ocean continues to turn, spraying salt with each crashing wave, serving as a reminder of the vastness and unfathomable power of the ocean.

The second movement, Saccarappa Falls was written about a waterfall tucked away in the less than bustling metropolis of Westbrook, Maine.  A bastion of beauty in a neighborhood that struggles with poverty and drug abuse, this waterfall gives me a moment of pause on my daily drive to class.  The frothy current works day in and day out to slowly smooth the rocks over which it falls. While this process takes ages to complete, the waterfall tirelessly repeats the same task, like a monk copying manuscripts.  There is something soothing about this cycle because I see it as nature taking care of the repetition so that we don’t have to. The cyclical and repetitive nature of our environment frees us to explore and create, unafraid of what changes or obstacles life may bring. The waterfall reminds me of this.

Four years ago my family moved into a house that stands where the Assabet River meets Lake Boon in Stow, Massachusetts.  This was our first ever move as a family and was it was a major adjustment for all. But throughout these stressful times, the river and the lake served as bringers of peace when we needed it most.  A Clear and Pleasant Day After the Rain is written about these two bodies of water and derives its title from Henry David Thoreau’s September 4, 1851 journal entry about his visit to Lake Boon.  Although the lake’s shores look much different today than they did when Thoreau traveled there in search of transcendental joy, I was able to find the same beauty in nature fishing with my younger brother; throwing sticks and watching my dog swim to retrieve them; or sitting alone on a tree branch that bends over the river.