Bright Light (2010)

For Percussion Quartet

Composed for Dominic Donato and the Purchase Percussion Ensemble

Duration: 8 minutes

Program Note

The initial inspiration of “Bright Light” came from the artwork of Theresa Chong, whose series of works from 2007 (“GRACE,” “G. MIGNON,” “J. MAC,” “LL AGO”) present a myriad of small, lightly-colored pencil dots connected by thin lines on darkly-colored rice paper. Her works bring to mind solar constellations illuminated in a starry night sky. The texture of the art inspired the opening gestures of my piece, which converge, instantaneously fragment and disperse, and then slowly begin to converge again. These gestures move from areas of intense activity and light to sparser music featuring darker timbres. The piece moves to and from areas of brightness and darkness throughout its structure, culminating in a bright metallic ringing, a searing light that flashes before it fades into silence. “Bright Light” was composed for, and is dedicated to, Dominic Donato and the Purchase Percussion Ensemble.

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Purchase Percussion Ensemble | Dominic Donato, director