How does one capture the feeling of warm sunshine hitting the face? How can the cello sound like wind dancing gently through tree cover? How can we simulate waves of the ocean crashing along the coast? Can music invite us into a quiet stillness evocative of the way the world seems to stop in a dense forest? What kind of journey can one solo cello take us on, and where will we go? How can one instrument start a conversation, and invite in humanity and curiosity along the way?
“Nineteen” (Nineteen Movements for Unaccompanied Cello) is an evening-length collection of short, contradistinctive movements that explore the vast expressive capabilities of the cello while at the same time forming a powerful and cohesive narrative arc. This was my first ever commission; my first time working closely with a composer (and for an extended period of time!); exploring the possibilities of what we could create together on the cello – and what we wanted to say & share with the world. The result is a work that fuses aspects of both of our personalities, our values, our musical styles… and, unsurprisingly, draws heavily from nature.
In the summer of 2016, I first approached Scott Ordway and asked him if he would be a guest artist on my interactive chamber music series, Philadelphia Performances for Autism. As part of a program of 10 concerts in the series’ inaugural year, I was looking to feature a wide array of artists and curate experiences for kids and their families that got them developing deeper personal relationships with music, creativity, expression, and the process of being an artist.
Long story short, that conversation led to Scott sharing with me his long-time dream of writing an evening-length work for solo cello, and a whole new collaboration was born. I was already intrigued by his music, having been a part of the world premiere of his work “Whisper Play,” and finding myself in awe of the incredibly evocative yet simple & beautiful ways in which he played with colour and sound… so I was in! Over the course of the following couple of years (right up until the moment of the world premiere performance on Saturday February 3rd, 2018 -- and admittedly, even since), this piece slowly unfolded, in a true collaborative fashion. I don’t think there is a single bar of this piece that wasn’t at some point a conversation – an exploration, a curiosity; full of wonderment and possibility.
We started off with getting to know each other – what drew each of us into music, what we loved – and didn’t love – about being an artist… what seemed like intriguing diving off points for a piece of this scale. It was pretty quickly that we realized the essence of both of our beings, artistically and otherwise, is heavily rooted in the natural world, and without even discussing it that became the intrinsic basis for this music. In the end, the piece is meant to be universal and open-ended in it’s experience of the wild and the world at large, while being intimately personal in our two individual perceptions and experiences.
Every couple of months, Scott and I would meet in a studio of the Curtis Institute of Music’s 1726 building; chatting, getting to know each other, exploring and finding the seedlings of ideas that excited and intrigued us… me experimenting to find different sounds and colours on the cello, Scott scribbling things down and sketching out ideas, and together enjoying the process of exploration and discovery. One of the most riveting parts of this collaboration was watching how the piece came into it’s own over the course of our time together – what we began with is so very different from what the music grew (and continues to grow!) into. There are some movements that are far more Scott, and some that are far more me – and some that embody both of our personalities & relationships to both music and nature. Scott also found himself drawing inspiration from some of the great solo cello repertoire – especially Bach’s 3rd Suite for Solo Cello, and Britten’s 1st Suite. You’ll likely hear influences from both of those pieces if you’re listening out for them! In February 2019, when I was in artist-in-residence at Rutgers University (where Scott is on faculty), I was able to present a program of all 3 works together – Bach, Britten, Ordway – which really illuminated for me how significant Bach & Britten’s influence on Scott has been.
Over time, the piece has taken on several different meanings for me personally. It started with human connection, and explored our connections with nature. It’s premiere brought together several of my favourite people from all over North America in a gorgeous wooden concert hall in Philadelphia, and will always bring me back to feelings of joy, warmth, generosity, and gratitude. When we started recording it a couple of months later, a series of fortunate events lead us to recording in MGSA Rutgers’ main concert hall – a massive, gorgeous hall where I got to truly perform the piece for the microphones, not cramped up in a dry recording studio. (It also made the process of recording extra stressful since we of course couldn’t have unlimited access to the hall! We recorded all nineteen movements over the span of 2 days, a few months apart.) In dreaming up how to promote the album, we knew it only made sense to shoot something outdoors — so we headed to the woods outside of Philadelphia and found places where the music just felt so at home (and it was fun to surprise/share/connect with local trail-goers!). In the summer of 2018, my childhood best friend’s brother got married in a beautiful outdoor ceremony, and from all of the pieces I offered for him and his bride in their planning process, they chose V to be played as she walked down the aisle. III and V have become staples in bedside concerts and moments of deeply enriching human connection for me – and while this piece is inevitably grounded in nature, I think what makes it so special is it’s humanity – coming from a place of curiosity and connection between Scott and me, and inviting everyone in in the same intimate way as they listen and experience the piece.
I am honoured to bring this acutely human work into the world, and grateful to everyone who has been listening and enjoying the album so far. If you have more questions about the backstory of the piece/it’s influences/Scott/me, please feel free to reach out! :-)
In the meantime, if you haven’t already, please check out the album! It’s available for free on all streaming platforms (click here for Spotify or Apple), as well as for purchase through Scott’s website or Amazon. (Fun fact: the physical CDs feature photography from both Scott and I of a couple of our favourite places…! Each of which were major influences on this piece.)
I am deeply grateful for Scott’s time, artistry, and humanity throughout this process – this piece could not be what it is without all of his dedication and open-mindedness. It’s been a true pleasure to explore music and collaboration so profoundly. We are also both incredibly grateful and deeply indebted to our amazing producer, Alexander Bruscenev, and our record label, Acis Productions – it takes a village, and we couldn’t have dreamt up a more wonderful team.
You can also find more information about the piece (especially if you want to know more about it structurally/compositionally-speaking) on Scott’s website, or check out some of the reviews that have come out so far here, here, or here. I hope this album will take you on a beautiful adventure of your own :-)