Future Sounds (Nov. 2025)

Bassquake II (2021) - Tom Davoren (b. 1986) 3’

Skin in the Game (2024) - Juha Pisto (b. 1966) 6’

Euphantasy (2005/2025) - Jennifer Bernard Merkowitz (b. 1981) 8:30’

no one ever asks about the bats in plato’s cave; do you think they could see their shadows too? (2018) - Bryan Michael Wysocki (b. 1995) 9’

- Break -

Dos Estampas (2014) - Adriana Isabel Figueroa Mañas (b. 1966) 5’

I. Aire del Campo II. Aire de la Ciudad

Vairo Boulevard (2023) - Chanell Crichlow (b. 1986) 8’

Data Decay (2021) - Aaron Hynds (1989) 6’

花 (2020) - Japanese Traditional arr. Anthony Caillet 4’

Bassquake II (2021) - Tom Davoren (b. 1986) 3’

“Bassquake II is a short, adrenaline fuelled work for solo euphonium, composed for my friend Glenn Van Looy. It was a gift, intended as a joke at first, to be a study that he would not be able to play! He however loved rhythmic hooks, tumbling tonality, and multi-phonics, so this final version of the pieces was brought to life.”

Skin in the Game (2024) - Juha Pisto (b. 1966) 6’

“Juha Pisto is a Finnish tubist, music educator, conductor and composer. Pisto studied tuba at the Oulu Conservatoire, receiving a low brass teacher’s degree. The following year he finished post-degree studies at the same school. While pursuing his tuba degree, he studied music theory and composing, as well as conducting.” Pisto has composed for the Lieksa Brass Week and other Finnish festivals and orchestras. 

Skin in the Game is an incredibly dynamic work, which, characteristically of Pisto, draws the line between tonality and atonality. At times, the solo is rollicking, nearly falling forward through melodic and rhythmic hooks, and at other times showing restraint and trepidation. The piece is through-composed, though returns to the opening motif at the very end. Throughout the work, small moments are emphasized, expressing nuanced scenes of exciting adventure, peaceful countryside, and a willingness to be bold through the instrument.

Euphantasy (2005/2025) - Jennifer Bernard Merkowitz (b. 1981) 8:30’

Phantasy (n): a term used in the theory of psychoanalysis to describe unconscious desires, fears, drives, etc.

Eu-. Indicates: Well, pleasant, or beneficial, from the Greek eus; for example, euphonium = eu (good) + phonos (sound).

Euphantasy (n): a musical piece used to pleasantly explore unconscious desires, fears, and drives, with the aid of euphonium and computer-generated sounds.

Euphantasy was commissioned by Lloyd Bone. The electronic sounds were all derived from the euphonium itself and were processed almost exclusively with the composer’s granular sampling software, Amber.

no one ever asks about the bats in plato’s cave; do you think they could see their shadows too? (2018) - Bryan Michael Wysocki (b. 1995) 9’

“Euphonium player Michael Fahrner and I both did our master’s degrees at Georgia State University, and we first collaborated on a trio of New England hymns that we had arranged for euphonium, bass trombone, and percussion for his recital. After this, he approached me about writing a large-scale work for chamber winds and percussion, with a euphonium feature based on those hymns. I was too busy to write that piece, but I told him I’d be interested in writing a smaller piece for solo euphonium. He said that he wanted a piece that was almost entirely extended techniques. This was outside of my comfort zone as a composer; and although I utilize extended techniques quite frequently, using them as the only source of sound for a brass instrument seemed like a tough challenge. So, we sat in a practice room and tossed around ideas for a while, and we had gotten this vinyl tubing, to try to recreate the hoseaphones that we’d seen on the internet. That’s where this piece came from.

Once we cut the hose to a length that we thought would work, we experimented with using funnels as bells, playing into the piano, and other techniques until we discovered that we could just put the tube directly into the soundboard of the piano and have it act as another resonating chamber. We decided that the sounds that came from this experimenting sounded like what a euphonium playing in a cave would sound like. (Whether or not that’s actually true, we’re not quite certain. Neither of us are avid spelunkers, someone braver than either of us would have to figure that out for themselves.) We talked about famous caves and instantly came to Plato’s Parable of the Cave; and after talking about philosophy for an hour or two, exhausted, I asked, “no one ever asks about the bats in Plato’s Cave; do you think they could see their shadows too?” To which Mike responded, “they’re blind, they couldn’t see their shadows in the first place.” A simple answer to a dumb question asked at the end of a long conversation, but it resulted in the title of the piece.

To us, after performing the piece on campus and recording it a number of times, the best description of the sound world that we could come up with (and trust us, we thought about this a lot) is: like sitting near a fire on a cold day, with both a damp, dull chill and a dim comforting warmth

To us, this best conveys the atmosphere of the piece. Ultimately, that’s what the performer should be after in performance, creating an atmosphere. There is no direct narrative implied by the music, (this doesn’t mean that there isn’t a narrative!), but the performer should aim to create a world for which people can explore their own narratives inside the cave. This is why the lights should be off, (if the hall allows).

I’d like to thank Mike for not only asking me to write this piece, but also practicing, recording, championing, and being crazy enough to do this piece with as much care and attention to detail as possible. It’s rare that a composer gets to spend this much hands-on time on a piece with the performer present in the creative process, but it’s very worthwhile. I’m incredibly thankful for the time we’ve spent (on this) together.”

Dos Estampas (2014) - Adriana Isabel Figueroa Mañas (b. 1966) 5’

Composer Adriana Isabel Figueroa Mañas is one of the leading Argentinian composers in new music today. She graduated from the school of music of the National University of Cuyo with a degree in flute, while also taking jazz and orchestration courses. As a contemporary composer, she makes full use of all available devices and programs for musical composition. She was a founding member of U.N.C. Youth Orchestra, and a member of SINF Orchestra, The Municipal Band of Rivadavia, and the woodwind quartet Ensemble Universidad. Her works have been performed across Europe and the Americas by high profile symphonies, chamber ensembles, and jazz groups. 

Two Stamps is composed in two mostly continuous movements and evokes two places in Argentina, the air of the country, and air of the city. The country has a noble, plodding feel, perhaps inviting the listener to think of the Andes mountain ranges and horse riders galloping across the plains. The city, by contrast, invites the listener into the tango tradition, made most famous by Astor Piazzolla. The euphonium in this work has several dramatic “false endings” until it finally finishes with vigor firmly in the key of G minor.

Vairo Boulevard (2023) - Chanell Crichlow (b. 1986) 8’

“Vairo Boulevard was commissioned by Gretchen Renshaw James, my college roommate and tuba studio mate at Penn State University. The piece begins as a snapshot of Gretchen and I talking on our balcony as the sun sets and pays tribute to the stages of coming out and finding yourself. At first, the piece is introspective and self-searching, followed by pride and confidence in who you are; we then navigate through the excitement and complexity of queer relationships and finally gather at a place that feels self-assured and hopeful for the future. Vairo Boulevard explores sounds and genres created by or heavily influenced by queer Black folks. For many, this music (the club) is where they met their first love. This music saves lives, comforts folks in times of joy and pain, and serves as a gathering space for the community.”

Data Decay (2021) - Aaron Hynds (1989) 6’

Aaron Hynds is an Indiana-based audio engineer, tubist, and composer. His creative practice is centered on the intersection of technology and live performance, with a specialty in the interpretation of contemporary music. To this end, he remains active as a performer and composer, while working primarily as an instructor and audio engineer in higher education. 

Since the fall of 2023, Aaron has worked as the Manager of Audio Operations for the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Previous appointments include 4 years as the Lecturer of Music Business & New Media for the University of Kentucky, as well as the Sound Production Coordinator for the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Besides his academic positions, he is also the sole proprietor of Hynds Recording Services, a freelance audio engineering business.

Aaron earned Bachelor of Arts and Master of Music degrees from the University of Northern Iowa and University of Wisconsin-Madison, respectively, before completing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Contemporary Music from Bowling Green State University (the first brass player to graduate from the program since its inception in 2006). His document, entitled The Composer’s Guide to the Tuba: Creating a New Resource on the Tuba Family, is being prepared for publication as both a learning guide for extended techniques and a collection of concert etudes for tuba and euphonium. 

Data Decay was written for Daniel Rowland and recorded on his album Widening Circles. The piece algorithmically modifies pre-recorded sound to serve as the accompaniment to the soloist. Thus, the acoustic line between live performer and electronic background is sometimes blurred. The piece is composed in a vague ABA form, where the soloist plays technical chromatic lines in the A sections, and the B section is comprised of difficult, independently-moving multiphonics that are at times consonant, and other times split to embrace dissonance. The work additionally uses extended techniques beyond multiphonics including air sounds coupled with valve movement, and slap tongue.

花 (2020) - Japanese Traditional arr. Anthony Caillet 3’

Hana is a traditional Japanese folk song that translates to flower or blossom, but can refer to cherry blossoms. This is different from Sakura, which translates directly to cherry blossom and is the title of a different well-known Japanese folk song. The words for Hana are as follows: