Fil-Am Composer &
Music Teacher
Latest from AJ Francisco
“Moving to New York City to begin my graduate studies has been an exciting but also bittersweet experience. I have enjoyed taking in my new surroundings and absorbing the opportunities and experiences the city has to offer, but I have also unexpectedly found myself missing once mundane aspects of Virginia. One aspect that I was surprised to find myself missing dearly was the birdsongs I would hear right outside my window back home.
Songs of the Passerine (Songs of the Perching Birds) is an homage to the songbirds common in Virginia, with the themes of the piece taking inspiration from the calls of the Mourning Dove, the American Robin, the Blue Jay, and the Northern Cardinal.”
—AJ Francisco
Revisit Previous Works
“In Darkness was written in response to a prompt that called for a solo instrument piece to be played in the dark. Since the performer would not be seen in this scenario, I thought about how a piece would sound with an intent to confuse the audience as to what kind of instruments and how many instruments there are on stage. With this in mind, the solo cello mimics multiple instruments playing simultaneously throughout the piece, such as with the cello shifting in its extremely high register, playing double stops, and playing glissandi, all while plucking the lower strings with the left hand.”
—AJ Francisco