The music will always reflect the mood the composer is in at the time it's composed. I decided to utilize that in this work for solo piano.

Searching for Solace

'Red Oak Dawn' is a 15 minute orchestral work commissioned by Neeme Järvi and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. 

When I was commissioned to do this in 2006, I was asked to write a "piece about New Jersey".  So, I looked up various symbols on the internet that represent the state, and I discovered that the state tree was the Red Oak. With its many colorful leaves and branches, I was able to compose a multi layered atmosphere that hopefully gives a good sonic representation of this image. 

The piece starts off quietly and ominously with overlapping figures, showing these multilayered parts of the Red Oak. This leads to a slow yet upbeat walking bass section with an obvious jazz tinge, eventually picking up steam and momentum, ending in a majestic climax, seeing the Red Oak in its full glory!

RED OAK DAWN  Neeme Järvi/New Jersey Symhphony Orchestra

"Carmilla" is inspired from the 1871 novella of the same name by Joseph Sheridan La Fanu.  It tells the story of Carmilla, a young female vampire who develops an unusual obsession for her susceptible young friend, Laura.  Camilla, later morphs into the form of a black cat who bites Laura on the neck.  Laura becomes deathly ill as a result, but later survives.  Whereas Carmilla is subsequently killed by an imperial commission.  The piece tries to musically show the tension, eerie and seductive nature of Carmilla that is portrayed in the novella.

Carmilla

Written for Solo Piano, "Equation Note" was written in 2010 to honor the memory of of New York based artist Rammellzee.

Taka Kigawa, Piano

Equation Note

An abstract musical depiction of my beloved city, New York.

Normunds Sné - Riga Festival Orchestra

Streetscape

"After the Din" for String Orchestra (excerpt)

This piece is a revision of music originally written for Mari Meade Montoya and her Dance Collective ensemble.

Effluence

I. My Mother said
From Charles Coleman's "Five Songs of mother Goose"

Elizabeth Weigle, Soprano
Kelly Horsted, Piano

Elizabeth Weigle, Soprano

I. My Mother said

II. Going to St Ives
From Charles Coleman's "Five Songs of Mother Goose"

Elizabeth Weigle, Soprano
Kelly Horsted, Piano

II. Going to St Ives

III. The North Wind
From Charles Coleman's "Five Songs of Mother Goose"

Elizabeth Weigle, Soprano
Kelly Horsted, Piano

III. The North Wind

IV. Anna Maria
From Charles Coleman's "Five Songs of Mother Goose"

Elizabeth Weigle, Soprano
Kelly Horsted, Piano

IV. Anna Maria

V. Starlight 
From Charles Coleman's "Five Songs of Mother Goose"

Elizabeth Weigle, Soprano
Kelly Horsted, Piano

V. Starlight

Reviews:

"Coleman is a master of instrumental color...his musical ideas are vivid."  - Mary Ellyn Hutton, Cincinnati Post

"Striking brilliance" -  Belfast Telegraph

"Coleman has a knack for capturing the mood of 21st Century living."  - Janelle Gelfand, The Cincinnati Enquirer

"Joylessly bombastic....Coleman's greatest accomplishment is in the small imaginative details." The Star Ledger

Charles_Coleman

Popular tracks