Title: Twelve Violin Etudes for 20th/21st Century Techniques

Instruments: Solo Violin (one duet)

Program Notes:

During a discussion with Mikylah Myers in 2016 I learned that there are not a lot of etudes for violin that focus on 20th and 21st Century techniques. Over the next few years I set to at least partially remedying this problem with this set of twelve etudes that are more or less atonal, but that focus on making the violinist step outside their comfort zone in one way or another. Over the following 3 years, I have worked with Mikylah and the West Virginia University violin studio to refine these etudes, which could be played simply for practice or as a part of a recital.

Etudes (in order of difficulty, except #12):

Etude 1: New York Subway on a Hot Day at 5:15pm (for Irregular Meters, Double Stops)
Premiered by Amanda Frampton

Etude 2: Dark Lark (for Focus on the G and D Strings: Emphasis on Higher Positions)
Premiered by Laura Grube

Etude 3: In the Midst of the Hollow (for Timbral Study (including singing and playing)
Premiered by Samantha Gray

Etude 4: Un-Raveled (for Pizzicato (incl. Bartok and LH pizz)
Premiered by Nathanael Turner

Etude 5: The Mirror’s Interior (for Specific Bowings, Accents in Low Dynamics)
Premiered by Afsoon Sabat

Etude 6: Ghost in the Machine (for Microtones, Spectral Study, and Timbre)
Premiered by Allison L’Ecuyer

Etude 7: On the Fjords at Night with my Wolf (for Double Stops, Long Bow Strokes,
Intonation)
Premiered by Robert Leong

Etude 8: Fiddly Bits (for Fast Chromatic Passages)
Premiered by Cody Pasden

Etude 9: Crossed Strings (for String Crossings, Natural and Artificial Harmonics, Abrupt
Dynamic Changes)
Premiered by Lauretta Werner

Etude 10: Tango (for Left-Hand Pizzicato, Knocking, and Big Leaps)
Premiered by Yaniv Gutman

Etude 11: GasBalls (for Complex Rhythm; Multitasking)
Premiered by Ben Rupert

Etude 12: The Tree of Wisdom (teacher-student duet)(for Choreography, Intonation)
Premiered by Emily Ilyes and Mikylah Myers

First Performance: April 2019