I’m collaborating with the remarkable harpist Parker Ramsay on new works that innovate and expand the possibilities of both our instruments. We are playing as a duo and also a trio with amazing cellist (and friend since my student days) Jay Campbell. We have a number of new duo and trio pieces in the works, more about those TBA!

Our first completed commission is the 40-minute duo Annäherung by Georg Friedrich Haas. It was a natural first piece, as I’ve been collaborating with Georg on his violin concerto and Parker was intrigued by the potential of Georg’s tuning systems. The harp is tuned in a rich microtonal scordatura and the violinist walks around the space during much of the piece. The concept of “proximity” or “approaching” is realized in the music sonically, temporally, and physically, and the audience’s experience is wonderfully individual according to their physical location and the very fluid nature of the music.

We premiered it on February 26 at Kaufman Center, which commissioned the piece.  We also played Baroque works by Buxtehude, Schmelzer, and more, with Jay Campbell, and we received this NY Times review.

Here are Canva slides with video clips