Recorded as part of the Butler University Chorale's 2025 Student Composer Readings.

Three Gloaming Images - 2. About the Room

3/3/2025
Mason Symphony Orchestra
Dr. Soo Han, conductor
Center for the Arts at George Mason University

Water Sings Fire for Orchestra (2018) was commissioned by the League of American Orchestras and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra with the generous support of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program. Carlos Miguel Prieto conducted the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra for the premiere performances at the Orpheum Theatre in New Orleans, Louisiana in January 2019.

The piece draws inspiration from Leigh Bardugo’s short story, When Water Sang Fire – a feminist origin myth to the Hans Christian Andersen classic, The Little Mermaid – in which themes of ambition and betrayal are explored allegorically through Ulla’s transformation from obscure mermaid to tempestuous sea witch. 

With nimble precision, Ulla manipulates the mer-music’s magical properties - a show of power irresistible to an ambitious prince whose lack of natural talent drives his relentless pursuit of the throne. In the end, Ulla’s ability to transform wishes into reality rewards the treachery of the young prince, and it costs her everything. 

The loss of her voice, friend, and form illustrate the degradation of her true source of personal power. Desperate to survive, Ulla uses a magical mirror to amplify her weakened voice with the support of “all these broken, betrayed girls” reflected in the mirror. Together, they build a song of storm magic to pull apart the prince’s ill-begotten prize. 

Bardugo writes that following Ulla’s descent, she clutches her memories, and “…held each sorrow like a chafing grain of sand, and grew her grudges like pearls.” 

While this piece does not strictly adhere to the narrative arc of the story, its episodic form strings together grievances, while Ulla, who frets in the deep, waits for the “lonely, the ambitious, the clever, the frail, for all those willing to strike a bargain. She never waits long.” 

Like the story, the sparse textures of the opening moments conjure the barren lands stripped of life by Ulla’s storm, and slowly builds with the sorrow of each painful memory re-lived. The themes resonate with societal changes that challenge our nation ­– as we strive to give voice to the wronged and the disenfranchised. The work is dedicated, with hope and with gratitude, to “women who sing truth though the world rains fire upon them.” Duration ca. 12:00

— Notes by Andrea Reinkemeyer and Kate Verotsky

Andrea Reinkemeyer: Water Sings Fire for Orchestra (2018) - LIVE

Performed at the University of Miami SCI Spring Concert 
03 / 19 / 2025

From Le Bistro Poulet. 
Libretto by Julian Baldwin
Isabel Breakey– Soprano
Jacob Mason– Piano

Erica's Aria

Three Gloaming Images - Partial MIDI/Live Recording

Recorded at the Maurice Gusman Hall at the University of Miami on April 7th, 2025
Jake Buhler, violin
Kyle Pearl, cello
Ruyue Tan, piano

STUCK (2024) for piano trio

Matter_Form_Function for String Quartet

Premiered on July 26, 2025 by Ryan Wombles and Drew Sperry at The Music Room on Capitol Ave., Indianapolis, IN.

Timestamps:
I. Lento lamentoso - Andante animando (0:00 - 5:20)
II. Madrigal-Scherzo: Allegretto scherzando (5:21 - 8:49)
III. Adagio assai e tranquillo (9:01 - 14:51)
IV. Allegro agitato (14:53 - 20:14)

Double Sonata for Two Cellos (2024)

From the album 'HOMMAGES', available on double LP at Bandcamp, and streaming everywhere.

Holly Roadfeldt - Piano

Hommage a Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) – The music of Hildegard has always amazed and inspired me.  Well, EVERYTHING about Hildegard has amazed and inspired me—the things that she composed, wrote, built, and accomplished—especially in an age when women were completely oppressed.  She is quite simply one of the greatest geniuses this world has ever produced, and it’s criminal that she’s not as well known as other male geniuses from her time (or later).  When I was thinking about this Hommage, I wasn’t sure how to approach it.  Then, one day (July 11th, 2018), I was doing some completely unrelated work, and out of nowhere, the entire piece came to me all at once, as in a vision.  Yeah, I know how that sounds, especially given Hildegard’s history, but that’s what happened.  The piece was written in one afternoon.

Hommage a Hildegard von Bingen (Official Album Version)

Holly Roadfeldt - Piano

Hommage a Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979) – I have been fascinated by Nadia Boulanger for a long time now. How did this person inspire and produce so many of the 20th century's greatest composers? After reading about her life, I think at least part of that dedication to composers was born out of her relationship to her younger sister Lili, and the circumstances surrounding her early death. From what I understand, Nadia was a great lover of the rigors of counterpoint, but also had the rare ability of helping composers find their own voices during a time of strict dogma in the composition landscape. This piece is inspired by Lili Boulanger's "Theme and Variations", and also by Nadia's love of counterpoint, and by her voice in my head telling me, "Just be yourself."

Buy the album!

Hommage a Nadia Boulanger (Official Album Version)

Holly Roadfeldt - Piano

Hommage a Gary Gygax (1938-2008) - Given all of the artistic and scientific people I've covered so far, why write an Hommage to Gary Gygax, the creator of the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons? When I set out to write this series, I wanted to pay respects to people who inspired me to create. Gary was the first. I was introduced to D&D in the 3rd grade, and I became fascinated with it immediately. I used to sit in class drawing dungeon maps on graph paper instead of listening to my lessons. This was my first real creative outlet, and where I first encountered the mechanics of telling a story. For instance, if I drew a long hallway on the graph paper, and then drew in a secret door halfway down on the left wall, this in itself posed many questions - questions that I had to answer. Why is there a secret door here? What is it hiding? Is it an object of significance relating to the rest of the story? Is it a dangerous monster, sealed away forever? How does that relate to what the adventurers are going through? My 3rd-grade mind was sent wandering with almost endless possibilities. Through Gary's creation, I learned to craft a narrative - a skill that became invaluable in writing music. How could I not write an Hommage to Gary?

Hommage A Gary Gygax (Official Album Version)

Brian Awad is a composer, musician, and educator based in his hometown of Miami, FL. Awad’s works have been performed by a variety of ensembles and projects, including commissions with entities such as The _____ Experiment, the New World School of the Arts Chamber Orchestra, MAGIC (Miami Animation and Gaming International Complex), and Moon Nite Productions. His musical interests include bringing synesthesia to the visual and aural mediums, poetry, fixed media, and film scoring. Recipient of the Mark Richard Scholarship Award from the United Faculty at Miami Dade College in 2022, Brian has also achieved recognition as a semifinalist in the Prelude Young Composer Competition in 2022. Awad was a featured composer in the Frost School of Music’s Emerging Composers Concert in 2024. Awad has benefited from the mentorship of prominent figures such as Dr. Susan Epstein-Garcia, Dr. Charles Mason, and Dr. Lansing McLoskey. Additionally, Awad has had the privilege of participating in masterclasses led by world class composers including Dr. Chen Yi, Dr. Joshua Marquez, Dr. Andrea Reinkemeyer, Dr. David Liptak, Dr. Benjamin Taylor, and Dr. Don Freund.

Awad is an active educator in the South Florida area, teaching and guiding students in various topics such as composition, music theory, performance, and piano. Awad currently serves as graduate teaching assistant for the experiential musicianship curriculum as a theory instructor at the Frost School of Music-University of Miami. Additionally, Awad has offered music theory lessons in the greater Miami area, including students from Miami-Dade College, Florida International University, and the New World School of the Arts. Awad has served in other educational roles in organizations such as the Miami Fine Arts Academy, STRYKE Percussion, and FIU Percussion. He earned his Bachelor of Music in composition from New World School of the Arts/University of Florida and is currently pursuing his master's degree in music composition at the Frost School of Music-University of Miami.

STUCK (2024) for piano trio

Brian Awad

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