World Premiere, 7.17.25
Jennifer Gersten, violin
Hannah A. Barnes, electronics
Scholes Street Studio, Brooklyn

“Caminante, no hay caminos, hay que caminar.”
—anonymous inscription on a Spanish monastery
“In my beginning is my end.... In my end is my beginning. —T.S. Eliot, “East Coker”
The paths one takes are rarely, if ever, clear and straightforward. clouded winding paths reflects upon the above mantra, which has guided me for several years, as well upon as the circumstances surrounding the composition of the piece and the physical recovery of both myself (before the composition) and my collaborator, Jennifer Gersten. After an injury necessitated a drastic change in how Jennifer played the violin (taking up an improvisation practice with the violin on her lap), creating uncertainty around performance possibilities, I was eager to continue this collaborative project, finding a connection between her situation and my own years of chronic scoliosis-related back pain as a young woman.
Before intensive physical therapy, which led to significant and lasting positive change, I had to adapt and limit certain activities for years as a teenager and young adult. In clouded winding paths, I took an adaptive approach to violin writing, which led to certain discoveries in our collaboration that I would not have found otherwise—wispy harmonic sounds that come from inserting a knitting needle between the strings; or different approaches to overpressure or molto sul tasto bowing that are only possible with the violin positioned horizontally; and so on. As Jennifer was able to return to playing in the “traditional” position, in the finished piece, these adaptive materials are present in the electronics, which augment or contrast with what takes place in the live violin. This adaptive playing also influenced materials and development in the “traditional” position, which is modulated by the filtering and delays within the live electronics.
At the heart of the piece is a complex network of material and textural relationships, which includes polyphony between the solo violin and its fixed electronic counterpart. Materials and structures that are created and used in rigorous manners (including a thirteen-note microtonal tone row) come into contact with messy, unpredictable materials and processes. While some of these paths were determined at the outset, many were illuminated along the compositional process and could not have been anticipated at the origin of the journey.
clouded winding paths, which pays homage to Luigi Nono, was composed for and is dedicated to Jennifer Gersten. It is a cousin to my piece for electric guitar, Negative Capability (2020).
— HAB

Poster/thumbnail design by Jennifer Gersten.
All fixed media recordings by Jennifer Gersten.

clouded winding paths (2025, world premiere)

"Selenetrope" is a short study on bow nuance and timbral shading. Composed over three days during the 2025 Darmstadt Summer Courses in close collaboration with violinist Karl Jõrgi, the miniature explores fragile, unstable materials at the threshold of sounding. I want to express my gratitude to Karl for his fantastic collaboration and sensitive playing, and to mentors Rebecca Saunders and Sarah Saviet for both creating the environment for this collaboration as well as providing guidance on detail and notation.
A “selenetrope” is a mythical plant which blooms in the presence of moonlight.
-- HAB

*Headphones recommended; any background noise is part of the Darmstadt Experience.

31 July 2025
Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany
Karl Jõgi, violin

Selenetrope (2025, world premiere)

Beyond Color There is Light ACE - for pierrot sextet (2025)

Beyond Color There Is Light draws on my experience at the massive Rothko Retrospective at the Foundation Louis Vuitton in Paris in January 2024.  It was truly surreal to see 115 Rothkos in a single space and there was a beautiful, enigmatic, and luminous aura among the entire space. Seeing so many of these paintings, and seeing them so closely, one starts to realize how one-sided it is to characterize these paintings as still or suspended; these are incredibly active paintings filled with magnitude of tiny details in color, brushstrokes, and shapes that add so much to the vibrancy of the work. These micro-activities also helped create the sense of inner illumination that Rothko sought to create from within the paintings themselves. In Beyond Color There is Light, I try to capture this duality of stillness and create a sense of luminosity through the orchestrational and harmonic worlds. Through passages of driving melodic lines and rich harmonic webs, a passage of dreamy, floating, and rustling chords with a lyrical cello solo, and an animated, mixed-meter passage, the experience of this piece is as if we notice all of the tiny details flash before our eyes, but we still maintain this shimmering and suspended world in our presence. Beyond Color There Is Light was written with appreciation and admiration for the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble and Tim Weiss. 

Tim Weiss, conductor
Antonina Styczen, flute
Ian McEdwards, clarinet
Laura Gamboa, violin
Miles Reed, cello
Seth Schultheis, piano
Xin Yi Chong, percussion

Beyond Color There Is Light - for pierrot sextet

St. Hildegard of Bingen – the 12th century abbess, writer, composer, and mystic – spent much of her life in her monastery’s herbal garden. She wrote several volumes on botany and natural medicine, and her understanding of the natural world was deeply linked with her spiritual practice and visions. In this work, I imagine the orchestra as a garden, blooming from a solo viola solo into a colorful ecosystem teeming with life. It is orchestrated to suggest the reverberance of a single voice in a cathedral, singing in the floridly ornamented style characteristic of Hildegard. The seed of the piece from which the piece sprouts is the first two phrases of Hildegard’s antiphon "O rubor sanguinis" for St. Ursula: “O bloody red/that flowed from the height/divinity has touched: you are a flower/that the wintry breath of the serpent/has never touched.”

hildegard dreams of a garden was commissioned by the Orchestra of St. Luke's as a part of the 2025 DeGaetano Composition Institute. Performed by Orchestra of St. Luke's, conducted by Brad Lubman.

hildegard dreams of a garden (2025) for chamber orchestra (excerpt)

Sonata for Bassoon and Piano 

I. Andante con moto
II. Andante tranquillo
III. Allegro con moto, preciso

Live recording performed by Celia Jiménez (bassoon) and Javier Iha (piano) at the Festival of Chamber Music A Tempo con Caturla

Sonata para fagot y piano

This four-part piano suite is inspired by the figure of the rooster, a symbolic animal in Cuban culture. It is a special homage to the pictorial work of Mariano Rodríguez, whose images can be seen in the suite. The recording comes from a live concert at the Festival of Chamber Music A Tempo con Caturla.

Kikirico (suite for piano)

I. Allegro ma non troppo 
II. Larghetto
III. Allegro ben preciso
Dúo Promuisca     Alfredo Muñoz | violin     Maria Victoria del Collado | piano 

Grabación del concierto en vivo ofrecido dentro del Festival de Música Contemporánea de La Habana, 2014. Gracias a Duo Promusica por esta interpretación tan expresiva y poderosa. Un homenaje sentido al maestro y amigo Alfredo Muñoz.

Javier IHA _ Sonatina para violin y piano I

Commissioned and performed by ~Nois Quartet
János Csontos, Jordan Lullo, Natalia Warthen, and Julian Velasco


as wind in dry grass

Jorge Amado (b. 1997)
Ajiaco y símbolos (2024) (world premiere) 

Premiered by Ensemble 20+ and conductor Michael Lewanski.
DePaul School of Music, Gannon Hall, October 7, 2024.

Ajiaco y símbolos is a two-movement piece reflecting the culmination of my composition studies in Havana and Chicago. Both movements can be performed independently. Dedicated to Michael Lewanski and DePaul’s Ensemble 20+, it also honors my teachers in Havana and Chicago, respectively.

The first movement, Ajiaco, draws inspiration from anthropologist Fernando Ortiz’s 1939 metaphor describing Cuban culture as a grand ajiaco, highlighting its diverse ethnic roots. This movement begins with a brief dialogue between flute and the percussion section, where the latter’s improvisational rhythms evoke the primal energy of Cuba’s indigenous roots. This opening gives way to a vibrant tapestry of Cuban genres, including Zapateo, Rumba, Filin, and others, blending Hispanic, African, and American influences.

The second movement, Símbolos, explores Cuban culture through a social lens, using symbols to represent three critical struggles: restricted speech, limited resources, and emigration. This movement incorporates extended techniques and extra-musical elements to challenge the audience’s perception.

PERFORMERS:
Xander Day, flute
Jay Savoy, clarinet
Nickoli Kumm, saxophone
Maria Victoria Merlo, trumpet
Ryan Saladin, trombone
Wonee Kim, piano
Emma Mitchell, percussion I
Brendan Rich, percussion II
Benjamin Mora, violin
Casey Lebkicker, viola
Aurian Kutner, cello
Anthony D'Agostino, bass

Jorge Amado：Ajiaco y símbolos ｜ DePaul Ensemble 20+

World premiere: August 23, 2025
Location: St. Martin’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
Maryland, United States of America

Vitrales (Stained glass in English), is inspired by the beauty and complexity of the stained
glass windows that adorn many Cuban buildings, especially in churches and museums,
where colors and shapes combine to create unique works of art. Although it's a single
movement, the piece is divided into multiple parts, reflecting the structure and aesthetics of
these stained glass windows. The music draws heavily from traditional Cuban genres, such as
Son, Rumba, and rhythms and melodies inspired by Santería, and while utilizing a modern
musical language, it presents a great diversity of styles.

PERFORMERS:
Leo Sussman, flute
Lillian Copeland, oboe
Graeme Steele Johnson, clarinet
Remy Taghavi, bassoon
Wilden Dannenberg, horn
Emma Richman, violin
Jennifer Ahn, violin
Hannah Burnett, viola
Madeline Fayette, cello
Zachary Hobin, double bass
Miles Fellenberg, piano
Alice Chenyang Xu, piano
Jeff Stern, percussion

Jorge Amado：Vitrales ｜ ACMF Ensemble

Jorge Amado (b.1997)

Born in Havana, Amado began his musical journey at the age of eight. He graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2020 from the University of Arts of Cuba with degrees in both violin and composition. He later earned a Master's degree with distinction in Composition from DePaul University in Chicago in 2024.

As a composer, Amado has achieved international recognition, with his music performed in renowned halls such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Konzerthaus Berlin, Symphony Center in Chicago, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wiener Konzerthaus, among others. His work has been commissioned and performed by esteemed ensembles and artists, including the Catalyst Quartet, the Chicago Civic Fellows, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, Jon Kimura Parker, the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, among others.

Amado's music is a vibrant fusion of Afro-Cuban heritage, characterized by dynamic energy, well-crafted compositions, and a profound spiritual essence inspired by Santeria rituals and traditional Cuban music.

October 2025 - jorgeamadomusic.com

Jorge Amado：Vitrales ｜ ACMF Ensemble

Jorge Amado | Cuban Composer

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