Star Dance

Star Dance was composed for the piano and percussion duo Synchronicity, featuring Garah Landes (piano) and Gregory Landes (percussion). It was premiered by them at Christ St. Stephen’s Church on West 69th Street in New York City on 27 April 2015.

Completed in Louisville in September of 2014, the piece is revealed through a series of related, contrasting sections. The opening music is marked “calm” and features a freely-unfolding melody in the vibraphone. The character of the music soon changes in the next section, where the piano takes over the principal melodic drive and the accompanying percussion becomes more diverse. This fast, dance-like music is syncopated and playful. There is a return to the opening “calm” before the music moves in yet another direction, one marked “wistful.” This new music is simpler and more pensive than what had come before. But ultimately it is the lively dance music that takes over the composition, and energetically propels Star Dance home.

The percussion set-up for Star Dance requires: vibraphone, marimba, snare drum, two toms, bongos, hi-hat, sizzle cymbal, suspended cymbal, woodblock, bell tree, egg shaker, and two timpani. The piece runs ca. 10”.