On January 2, 2021 my father died due to complications from Covid-19, three weeks after testing positive. While he was on the ventilator I played music for him, and when he died, my ability to play the violin disappeared, and I haven't had the ability to play music with any real sense of love or purpose, meaning or vulnerability since. Many people said to just play my violin, not to focus on anything but just to allow all of the emotions to go somewhere. "Record it, and don't even listen back" is a piece of advice I received more than once. Until very recently, I couldn't do it. This improvisation is my first attempt to come back to music. 

Played on octave violin, this improvisation is an exploration of this long period of silence and frustration, and an attempt to explore the vulnerable, lonely and angering space of grief musically, finally. Specifically, this performance/recording explores the memory of watching my father pass away on Zoom, over 26 minutes. Each 30 seconds represents one of the 26 minutes it took for my father to pass away. Additionally, there are 26 vignettes (some disjointed, some connected, as the experience was) to represent each passing minute.  The 'silences' count. Everything is free and without any conscious model except for the final vignette, which is a purposely out of tune and rough nod to "Amazing Grace". I purposely chose to end this improvisation with this, as it was the last thing I ever played for my father on the violin, and the last thing I played on the violin for many weeks before I could finally pick up the instrument again.

twenty six minutes

a piece dedicated to my dad that I'm writing, with layers of electric guitar, a few beats & some voicemail.

An Ode To My Father (2016 demo)

This is the original score (September 2018) for “Temple of Tension”, a circus installation piece and balance playground made up of a multi-faceted ensemble of circus artists and tightwire walkers. The performance originally premiered at Burning Man in September 2018. The score was devised from a series of structured improvisation sessions.

Composition, instrumentals (violin, guitar, vocals, synth, and percussion), field recordings by Lucy Little 

Recording & Mixing by Lucy Little 

Mastering by Tariq Shihadah 

Cover artwork by Naomi Hummel 

—- 

“Temple of Tension” 

Show and physical structure devised, directed, performed and designed by Colin Creveling, with artistic support from Estelle Borel and lighting design by Caroline Margaux. More info at www.templeoftension.com.

Temple of Tension VI - Outro

This is the original score (September 2018) for “Temple of Tension”, a circus installation piece and balance playground made up of a multi-faceted ensemble of circus artists and tightwire walkers. The performance originally premiered at Burning Man in September 2018. The score was devised from a series of structured improvisation sessions. 

Composition, instrumentals (violin, guitar, vocals, synth, and percussion), field recordings by Lucy Little 

Recording & Mixing by Lucy Little 

Mastering by Tariq Shihadah 

Cover artwork by Naomi Hummel 

—- 

“Temple of Tension” 

Show and physical structure devised, directed, performed and designed by Colin Creveling, with artistic support from Estelle Borel and lighting design by Caroline Margaux. More info at www.templeoftension.com.

Temple of Tension V

Temple of Tension IV

Temple of Tension III

Temple of Tension II

Temple of Tension I - Intro

Lucy Little is a multi-instrumental musician, composer, improvisor, and audio producer currently based in NYC. A classically trained violinist, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist, Lucy uses looping pedals and electronics in her playing, and her sound falls somewhere along the lines of minimalism, classical, fiddle, folk, and klezmer. Lucy received her masters in contemporary performance and improvisation in 2021 from the New England Conservatory of Music. In 2018-19, Lucy was a U.S. Fulbright-Schuman scholar to the European Union, where she worked with Musicians Without Borders.