Morning Lanterns
for String Quartet Composed By Lukas Moldawsky

This piece was written as a composition assignment from my teacher Kari Kraakevik. Morning Lanterns has a similar construction to a Rondo form with less repeats of A and B almost a symmetrical “baby rondo” of sorts, ABCB’A. I had just learned the “chart” and voice leading rules outlined in Kostka Payne’s “Tonal Harmony.” Originally, this composition was the bane of my existence—but I actually started loving having the constrictions of traditional harmony, because even within these constrictions creativity did flow. Not only did I start loving the composition process of this piece, I began to understand why there are rules, and more importantly when I can break them . Listeners can hear the evidence of me breaking rules that I only just understood, with uses of secondary dominance, Neopolitan chords, pedal 6/4 chords, and in general delaying the dominant resolution, however, the majority of the piece follows traditional harmony. I enjoyed playing with voice interchange, call and response, and rhythmic independence between voices. The piece is named Morning Lanterns because I imagined four similar, yet, independent paper lanterns navigating the sea at dawn. These lanterns became the instruments and how they interacted at sea was how I heard them interacting musically.

Morning Lanterns By Lukas Moldawsky

New Beginning
For Jazz Combo

Composed By Lukas Moldawsky, Played by CCJA members
New Beginning was a piece that I wrote in a jazz composition class, where my teacher, Jeff Jenkins, gave me some pointers on how to create good jazz progressions and melodies. It is meant to be played as a relaxed bossa nova feel to sooth your day. It follows the traditional jazz combo format of ABA with a solo section and then the repetition of the body at the end. I started out with the chord progression and got a sequence of chords for the A and B section that I thought had a nice flow. Then I used the melody to create a melodic sequence, which unified the piece into one. In terms of rhythm I used lots of un-expected rhythmic changes such as fast 16th notes after half notes and triplets to keep the melody interesting. It got its name New Beginning because I used as a place to move on from the things that were happening in my life and get a fresh start.

New Beginning By Lukas Moldawsky

2am
for Soprano Saxophone Composed By Lukas Moldawsky

2am was composed as an intervallic and rhythmic exercise in binary form. The 'A' section uses the melodic intervals, M2, M3, A4, P5, M6, M7, while the 'B' section uses the contrasting intervals; m2, m3, P4, d5, m6, m7. Though any order of intervals was allowed, the intervals could not be repeated until all six intervals were exhausted. 2am utilizes a variety of rhythmic dissonances: syncopation, irregular groupings, displaced accents and mixed meters. Both sections are unified by oscillating time signatures and one other significant element. The A section is characterized by alternating 7/8 and 3/4 time signatures with similar melodic contours while the B section is characterized by changing 6/8 and 2/4 using Rhythm as a catalyst for unity. Written for Soprano saxophone, this piece echoes both the grit and fluidity that this instrument embodies.

4. 2am By Lukas Moldawsky

Lukas Moldawsky was born in 1997 in Glendale, CA. He grew up and attended school in Boulder, CO surrounded by an extended family of Jazz, Rock and Classical musicians. Family gatherings involving listening and playing music together reinforced his love for music at an early age as a bonding, creative and expressive experience. Lukas started playing drums at age 8 and has in recent years added piano, guitar and music production to his repertoire. Lukas first became a member of Concert and Jazz Bands at Southern Hills Middle School with Jeff Rubin. He continued on to Fairview High School, joining the Fairview Marching Knights marching band, and the Concert, Jazz and Symphonic Bands with Travis Keller. In addition to continuing his Drumset lessons with Bailey Cecil, Professional Drummer, he also studied Concert Percussion privately with Ben Christensen, Drumline Snare with Ryan Lynette, and Piano & Composition with Kari Kraakevik, MM. In the summer of 2014 he attended a class at the Colorado Conservatory of the Jazz Arts with Chris Romaine, in which his submitted piece, "New Beginning" was created and performed by CCJA class members. As an aspiring composer and producer, Lukas has also written and produced an Etude for Solo Saxophone, a piece for String Quartet, and many Electronic Dance Music originals and remixes. He is currently applying and hopes to attend college for Composition and Music Tech degree programs. He hopes to become a Professional Musician in the Music Industry and related fields, composing and producing a wide range of songs of various musical styles for collaborative projects and post-production applications.