Nourishment (for soprano and two pianos)

Purchase the score here.

For Soprano and Two Pianos
Text by Carmen Malis King
May 2017
Duration: ~7 minutes

John Knowles Paine Concert Hall
Harvard University
Wednesday, December 6th, 2023

Isabella Meyer, voice
Tabitha Chen-Fiske, piano
Sage Shurman, piano

Music 186: Contemporary Chamber Music
Directed by Claire Chase, Professor of the Practice, Harvard University

Carmen is one of my favorite poets in the world, and also happens to be my wife. I'm grateful to her for lending me these three pre-existing fragments for the sake of this piece. I wrote this piece while we were engaged, and I believe it brought me closer to her and we prepared for marriage.

This piece deals with cycles, and particularly deals with cycles that are two slow to perceive but are nonetheless present, embedding cycles on a structural level.

----

I would love if someone wanted me to arrange this for one piano and voice. Or maybe for piano, voice, and percussion? If you’re interested, let’s talk.

Lifted from the No of All Nothing (for jazz piano trio)

Purchase the scores here.

Purchase the CD here, or on Bandcamp.

For jazz piano trio
July 2015

Michael Malis Trio Michael Malis -- piano, compositions Ben Rolston -- bass Stephen Boegehold -- drums Forward looking, compositionally motivated improvising ensemble based in Detroit, Michigan. Lifted from the No of All Nothing, released 17 July 2015 1. Power Numbers 2. The Moment 3. Parentheses 4. Chance and Intention 5.

Music from my first album, "Lifted from the No of All Nothing." This album and this music is very near and dear to my heart, and felt like a capstone for an aesthetic perspective I had been exploring since at least 2011. This music evolved out of extensive rehearsal with the band, bassist Ben Rolston and Stephen Boegehold, and I can't imagine it sounding like it did without them.