Commissioned by the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, for the Flux quartet
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Barro tejido para la muerte de Mario Lavista o Cuarteto II (2022)

Recorded from a reading with Del Sol String Quartet in San Francisco, Fall, 2022. 

Dreaming Phoenix is my first string quartet I have composed in 8 years, and it was so exciting to write one again, especially for the incredible Del Sol String Quartet. This piece is an expression of my rebirth, or reawakening, as a composer. The pandemic from 2020 to 2022 took a huge toll on my life and well-being, so this piece is me ‘rising from the ashes’, reconnecting with myself and my imagination. I am deeply influenced by Korean and Indian music and explore rhythm cycles Utmori and Jhaaptal, timbres, and melodic shapes drawn from various traditions. The image and story I am exploring is a beautiful bird emerging from the embers through rays of light filtered through forest trees.
Written for Del Sol String Quartet, Santa Cruz, Fall 2022
Cover Image by J.H. Williams III

Dreaming Phoenix (2022) featuring Del Sol String Quartet

Sharp Skills was written in July 2010 for the California Summer Music Festival. It was inspired by the excellence and artistry of the cello studio of Irene Sharp. Musical ideas that I explored in the piece include driving and pulsating rhythms, short melodies passed around the ensemble, and various effects including glissandi, pizzicato, and harmonics.

This performance was given in spring 2013 by Rio Vander Stahl and friends.

Sharp Skills

Composed by Brian Petuch
Performed by andPlay
Sound Engineering by William Gardiner

A note by the composer:
The Pequod is the whaling ship in Moby Dick. I read Moby Dick last summer for the first time while on the coast of Oregon. The immensity of the dark Pacific coast only made the book more real to me. While reading I contemplated the scope of the Pequod’s journey on the vast sea and the scope of Captain Ahab's futile quest to conquer the white whale, which led to the Pequod's inevitable demise. It was both beautiful and terrifying and this piece tries to capture the spirit of the novel. I use the electronics and strings in a way that at times are abrasive and grating in order to feel the immense weight of an unforgiving and impartial world, and other times the music emerges with moments of light simplicity out of the darker more sonically oppressive moments.

andPlay is
Maya Bennardo - Violin
Hannah Levinson - Viola
http://andplayduo.com/


Brian Petuch's Website
www.brianpetuch.com


EDIT: This studio recording is a replacement of the live recording at Cloud City in Brooklyn NY 2/17/16

The Pequod - for Violin, Viola, & Electronics

John Dowland - A Fancy

Francis Poulenc - Sarabande

Heitor Villa-Lobos - Etude 1

Heitor Villa-Lobos - Etude 5

This piece is a portrait of my experience with synesthesia.  It depicts the ways that synesthesia causes a constant sensory buzzing, often swelling into an overload that is both chaotic and beautiful.  It comes with a good balance of blessings and curses, but in the end, it really is the only way I've ever known life, and I accept it for the beautiful and unique experience that it is.

Dilation Waves

Voices of Petals is my first piece using only instructions and a map for performance. There is no notation for this work, simply guidance on how to interpret map and follow aural and visual cues. Each of us listened and responded to one another, creating an enchanting yet haunting atmosphere. 
Inspired by the unfolding of a Lotus flower.
Performed by Sonus Donum Ensemble on April 19th, the first concert of the Music Today Festival 2017. 
Thankful for Sarah Hopkins and her incredible harmonic whirlies.

Voices Of Petals (2017) featuring members of Sonus Donum Ensemble

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Emily Duncan, alto flute/piccolo
Stella Perlic, percussion 
Recordings of the composer's paternal grandmother, María Teresa Ruíz de Ramos, and her funereal procession 

Grabaciones de la abuela paterna del compositor, María Teresa Ruíz de Ramos, y su procesión fúnebre

Altar con pinos y pan de Acámbaro o Música con mi abuelita (2018)

Danny Leo is a composer and music educator. He began playing the violin at age 5 and composing at 12. Recent compositions include a work for the USC Thornton Symphony, a collaboration with yMusic and the Kaufman School of Dance, and an orchestral commission by the Grand Rapids Symphony. His music has been performed at Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space, the Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College, and University of California Berkeley. Danny has taught a variety of subjects including Classic Rock of the 1960s, classical music theory and composition, piano, and violin. He participated in the American Composers Orchestra EarShot program and is a recipient of the Carl Kanter Prize in Orchestral Composition, Presser Foundation Scholarship, Jean Schneider Goberman Award, and Winner of the CIRCE (Composer-in-Residence Chamber Ensemble) competition. Danny earned his Bachelor of Music at Mannes College, his Master’s of Music at Manhattan School of Music, and is currently pursuing his Doctorate of Musical Arts at the University of Southern California.