East Coast Architecture (2013)

For solo cello (5’)

My second work for solo cello, “East Coast Architecture” was written after starting my time at Cleveland Institute of Music. I was incredibly homesick, having left my native Philadelphia and surrounding area for the first time. This is my sad love letter to the East Coast, with fast rates of information scaffolded by the austere serenity of the monstrous grey buildings that make up the skyline. The work also serves as an homage to a major influence on me at the time, and another East Coast native, Elliot Carter, who had died shortly before I began composing the piece.

The work was commissioned by the Cleveland Institute of Music for Meghan Carey and premiered by her the same year. I thank her for her dedication to learning and performing this piece with such precision and mastery.

The work was also recorded on video by Justin Leopard for his cello+ series.