DJ 2 Extravaganza  for euphonium, 2 tubas & percussion  MIDI realization

Gets Like That About Now - 1:20:23, 4.30 AM

The form of the piece is roughly that of a seven-part rondo in which the opening theme is interrupted by several contrasting themes but reappears between them.  However, my focus was not on form but on emotional impact.  Each section creates its own mood.  For instance, the sections with tom-toms are tense compared to the lighter, more lyric sections featuring vibraphone.  Overall, the work proceeds from darker to brighter emotions.

Mood Rondo

"On the Lake Isle" by Motshwane Pege

Premiered at Clarke Auditorium, St John's College, Johannesburg, South Africa in April 2024.

Performers:

Lydia Weber - Bb Clarinet
Khumo Pege - Alto Saxophone
Motshwane Pege - Vibraphone, Bongos
Colette du Toit - Piano

Programme Note:

This mixed quartet is composed to immerse listeners into a tranquil afternoon, evoking the reflective atmosphere of sitting on a secluded lake isle. It embodies a contemplative and atmospheric mood, featuring an unconventional combination of instruments. However, this unique blend presents listeners with a vibrant palette of musical colours, enriching their experience and offering a new perspective. The composition takes pride in creating a space for reflection, inviting listeners to delve into a world
of introspection and emotional depth.

On the Lake Isle (Alto Saxophone, Clarinet, Percussion & Piano)

Echoes of Silver Rain is a journey through a dreamlike, futuristic world where rain is not
just weather but a living, breathing entity. It begins in “Dreamy Thunder from a
Distance,” where distant thunder hums with an electric energy, and the flute and
marimba create a sense of anticipation, as if the storm is about to break. The second
section, “Drizzling,” captures the delicate and fleeting nature of raindrops, with the
flute and violin tracing moments of quiet reflection, as if each drop holds a thought or a
memory. In “Glimmering Silver Streams,” the rain transforms into something more
ethereal, shimmering like neon light on a metallic surface. The cello lines flow like
liquid metal, adding a weightless sense of movement. The piece concludes with “Serene
Mysterious Return,” where the rain softly retreats, leaving behind a sense of peace and
quiet contemplation. Through these evolving textures and sounds, Echoes of Silver
Rain is my way of expressing how rain can be both powerful and gentle, an intimate
force of nature that reflects our own emotions, thoughts, and quiet moments of
introspection.

3/28/2025: Featured in New Music in Michiana concert series and performed by ENSEMBLE CONCEPT/21 (South Bend, IN, USA)


Echoes of Silver Rain (2024): for flute, violin, cello and marimba

"Stranger of Kin", inspired by my grandmother's Alzheimer's disease, which progressively worsened over the course of nine years, explores the complex emotions that arise when a loved one experiences memory loss. Our interactions are a mix of love, sadness at her moments of forgetfulness, and frustration when the same questions, like "who are you?", repeat. There are brief moments of joy, too, as she recalls a childhood memory of when she helped raise me like a second mother. But these precious moments are fleeting, and the cycle of confusion and questioning begins anew.  

At the same time, I imagine my grandmother feels fear and disorientation when she doesn't recognize her surroundings or the people around her. It must be a disorienting whirlwind for her, forced to rely on the explanations of a stranger (me) to understand her reality. However, when a fragment of memory returns, there's a bittersweet acceptance for both of us. We accept that the situation is beyond our control, and all we can offer each other is love, sympathy, and cherishing these precious moments while they last. 

The music seeks to capture such complex emotions surrounding my interactions with my grandmother in a cyclical fashion. Each cycle presents the same musical material but each time in a different character, color, and/or textures and eventually is interrupted by a dreamy but abrupt cloud of sound that resets the memory and gives way to a new cycle. In the beginning, solo violin harmonics and bowed vibraphone play the first theme, gradually evolving into fragments of a new, but still related, theme. 

This second theme, inspired by Persian folk tunes, is scattered throughout the piece in fragments, echoing the nostalgia of my grandmother and the memories of her raising me in Iran. It is a tribute to the loving angel who was my grandmother, and only emerges in its entirety halfway through the piece, played by solo violin, and later culminates in a powerful climax in the final cycle. The piece concludes with a variation of the second theme followed by the recurring dream-like sound cloud, marking the end of the cycle.  

~ I would like to dedicate this piece to my grandmother, Tahereh Moeini, who passed away shortly after composing the original mixed-ensemble version of this piece on August 5th, 2024. ~ 

Stranger of Kin for Mixed-Quartet

Xinyuan Deng is a composer, pianist, sound artist, and educator originally from Henan, China. Beginning piano studies at age five, she developed a deep connection to music early on. Her compositions blend traditional Chinese aesthetics with contemporary sounds, creating immersive sonic worlds where memory, movement, and stillness intertwine.

Xinyuan’s work spans acoustic, electroacoustic, and multimedia forms, reflecting a broad palette of textures and expressive possibilities. Her music has been performed internationally by ensembles such as Austria’s PHACE Contemporary Ensemble, The Rhythm Method String Quartet, Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra, and Harbin Symphony Orchestra.

Recent highlights include her role as a Composition Fellow at the National Orchestral Institute + Festival, where her chamber orchestra piece BAN-NA, inspired by the landscapes and dances of Xishuangbanna, premiered. She was also a featured composer for the American Composers Orchestra EarShot Readings in 2025. Her multimedia piece Whispers in Motion, integrating kalimba, live electronics, and dance, earned the Morris and Sheila Hass Award in Computer Music.

Xinyuan holds degrees from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where she is pursuing a Doctor of Music with minors in Music Theory and Electronic Music.

Joe L. Alexander is an American composer of band, orchestral, chamber, choral and electronic music.  His music has been performed throughout the United States, Germany, Greece, Italy, Russia, Scotland, and South Korea. Many of his compositions have been performed on recitals/conferences of the Birmingham Art Music Alliance; the College Music Society; the Louisiana Composers’ Consortium; National Association of Composers, USA (NACUSA); the Society of Composers, Inc.; the Southeastern Composers’ League; the Southeastern Electro-Acoustic Composers Collective; and the International Tuba Euphonium Association. His music has been featured at Bowling Green State University’s annual New Music & Art Festival, the Electroacoustic Barn Dance, the Birmingham New Music Festival, New Music on the Bayou Festival and New Music for Young Ensembles Composers' Competition. His "Two Bryant Songs" (soprano, Bb clarinet and piano) are recorded on Winds and Voices, by Living Artist Recordings; his SATB choir piece, "Summer Sounds Beckon Me" (text by L. B. Morgan), is on Ablaze Records' New Choral Voices, Volume 3; his "Chopawamsic" (trumpet and soundfile) is on Ablaze Recordings' Electronic Masters, Volume 7; and the SATB choir piece, "The Lighthouse" (text by Katie Ballinger), has just been released on Ablaze Records' New Choral Voices, Volume 4. Recently, his "Partita #4 for unaccompanied euphonium" was selected for the Semifinal Round of the 2019 International Tuba Euphonium Association's Solo Euphonium - Artist Division competition at the ITEC in Iowa City, Iowa. In 2012, Alexander was the commissioned composer for the 2012 Louisiana Music Teachers Association, and in 2017, he was the Mississippi Music Teachers Association commissioned composer. Dr. Alexander is a Professor of Music at the “W” where he teaches Theory, Composition, Music History and Brass. 
www.jlacomposer.com/

Motshwane Pege is an internationally acclaimed South African composer and percussionist. His music is marked by emotional clarity, harmonic richness, and an elegant sense of space - inviting performers and listeners into moments of wonder, reflection, and inner stillness.

His works span choral, solo, chamber, and orchestral mediums and have been performed internationally in the US, Germany, South Korea, and South Africa. Recent accolades include First Prize in the 2024 Busan Choral Festival Composition Competition and Ensemble Altera’s 2023 International Composer’s Competition.

New tracks tagged #mixed quartet