My solo piano piece “Songs of the Passerine” will be premiered by Master’s student Julia Hananel on Sunday, February 16, 2025, at 8 p.m. at NYU Steinhardt’s Tutte le Corde festival! This piece was written as part of NYU Steinhardt’s Pianist/Composer Collaboration Project. Register for the event here.

About “Songs of the Passerine”:

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.