Too Close for Contact (2015)
For violin, clarinet, and percussion (and five dancers)
Choreography by Hannah Weber
Duration: 10.5 minutes (12 minutes with dance)
Commissioned by Periapsis Music and Dance
Partial premiere: February 7-8, 2015
Peridance Capezio Center, New York
Caroline Chin, violin; Adrián Sandí, clarinet; Sarah Mullins, percussion
Dancers: Ariel Comeau, Megan Jones, Michaela Catherine McGowan, Leigh Schanfein, and Hannah Weber
Full premiere: June 12-13, 2015
Kumble Theater at LIU Brooklyn
Caroline Chin, violin; Adrián Sandí, clarinet; Sarah Mullins, percussion
Dancers: Erin Dillon, Megan Jones, Michaela Catherine McGowan, Isaac Owens, and Hannah Weber
This work is available for retail purchase from Theodore Front Musical Literature.
This work is available for institutional purchase from Harrassowitz (OttoEditions) and Theodore Front Musical Literature.
Program note: This was the first piece I wrote for choreographer Hannah Weber, through Periapsis Music and Dance. Hannah wanted to explore the New York phenomenon of living daily life in such close quarters with so many people that one fails to connect with them. The subway was a visual image for her, and an embodiment of this experience. Musically, the first movement combines ostinatos with metric modulations, as we go from one character to another and experience their internal monologues. The second movement is slow and rhapsodical, thinking about missed connections and lost opportunities to engage. And the finale brings us back to the pace of the city, gradually getting faster and faster.
Behind the scenes: