I just made an album. I am so excited to share it with you!
—this album features new music for trumpet by women composers—
Sound interesting? You can read a formal description and buy the album HERE.
Would love to hear what you think!
A little over a year ago, in August 2016, I wanted to pick some rep for a recital and found a couple great pieces by women composers. I remembered hearing from a teacher at a summer festival about his CD prep (thanks Paul!!) and thought to myself…. hey why don’t I make a CD this year! I didn’t know too much about the process of making a CD and wow I have certainly learned a lot this year. (Will write a post on that later so stay tuned!)
So the first thing I did – was I picked the music! My friend Jinhee Han was already writing a solo for me so I knew that would go on there. I asked my friend Ariel Marx to write a piece. My friend Ledah Finck also wrote a piece for me and flutist Louna Dekker-Vargas which also appears on their album — which you can check out here. My new friend Nicole Piunno and I met through instagram, I met Jessica Rudman after working on her piece and then performing at the Women Composer’s Festival. I was drawn to Alex Gardner‘s piece after reading about the unique instrumentation for trumpet, harp, and electronics and later learned we knew many of the same people in Baltimore through my time at Peabody. Lastly, a former teacher suggested I check out Jennifer Higdon‘s piece for trumpet and piano and I was drawn to it because it is also a piece for voice so the words are beautiful. So for about a year I had those 7 pieces that I was excited about and the title As I Am in the back of my head for the album.
But I felt something was missing.
So In September I decided to write myself a piece for the album for solo flugelhorn, entitled “As I Am.” To me, this piece has a sweet sort of longing, almost pleading, for someone to “take me as I am.” The whole album in a way is this same sort of gesture and reaction – although in a more positive way. Recordings are always snapshots in time and this is a great representation of me as an artist and composer – after finishing school and entering full time into the freelance life.
I’ve already started planning my next album but for now, it feels so great to say hello world! this is me at 25 years old, done with school, and living the dream in NYC
As I Am.