all roads are near (2013) for cello and vibraphone
(version for solo cello + ob, bsn, hn, vln, vla also available)
(version for solo cello + two vibraphones and two marimbas also available)
duration: ca 7'

commissioned by Hillary Smith

program note:
all roads are near was composed for Hillary Smith who has been my friend and musical collaborator since high school. Hillary was my inspiration for this piece: her sound, her musicianship, our memories together, and the dreams of where our future collaborations will one day take us.

This piece is in four sections, the first of which is somewhere between an incantation and plainsong while revolving around a single note in the cello. The second section is marked by a low, mournful melody in the cello that slowly reaches higher and higher until breaching the climax of the piece in the third section. As the music calms down and begins to fade away, the fourth and final section of the piece brings back elements of the opening material and within this texture, a quote of the second movement of the Schumann Cello Concerto in a minor Op. 129 emerges in the cello; a piece that Hillary and I played as students.