The Piano Concerto was inspired by seeing Glasgow University's 4th year Engineering students create and then destroy complex Lego robots built and programmed for their Robotics module over a period of six months. Constructing something so complex and then having it completely destroyed in an arena where the robots were pitted against each other was a unique experience that I have attempted to translate into musical terms.
The role of the piano emerges and solidifies throughout the piece – starting as an ensemble player, the piano undergoes a transformation into a real soloist in the third movement. This transition is also mirrored in the percussion – visually the percussionist moves from marimba in the first movement, to the vibraphone in the second and xylophone in the third.

Piano Concerto mvmt I-II 2016

Formation I is a melodic and rhythmic exploration of a very small material building block – a pattern of two notes and its constituents. A string quartet lends itself greatly as a medium of this kind of exploration due to its intimate setting, the availability of various tone colours and the variety of sound texture, such as open and closed strings, harmonics, pizzicato, etc.

Runner up: Walter and Dinah Wolfe Memorial 2019.

Performed by the Brodick Quartet.

Formation I 2019

A collaboration with St Andrews University Biology PhD student Thomas Hitchcock using simulation data as a random pitch generator for a wind quartet.

Performed by Emma Roche (flute), Anne Rankin (oboe), Alex South (clarinet) and Paul Stone (trombone).

Experimental Evolution 2019

ON/OFF

Performed by Vilnius City Municipality St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Donatas Katkus

SWITCH 2020

High Energy Music is a result of a collaboration with Gediminas Sarpis, an old friend and a particle physicist currently studying at Manchester University. His research recently conducted at CERN in Switzerland and the principles underpinning it are the basis of the piece’s logic, pitch choices and
structure. This piece is dedicated to Gediminas Sarpis – for the years he spent explaining things I didn’t understand (and I am not quite sure if I fully do now).

A special thank you to Steve Forman for kindly allowing us to use his personal percussion collection!

Performed by Dean Garrity, Jack Halforty, Paulina Klamut, Evan Dim, Calum Huggan, Angela Wai-Nok Hui.
Conducted by Konstantinos Terzakis.

Nora Marazaitė

Popular tracks