People In The Home (for solo piano and delay pedal)

Purchase the score here.

For solo piano and delay pedal
November 2016
Duration: ~11 minutes

A meditation on homes and ghosts.

A month after moving into a new apartment with my then-fianceé Carmen, I turned randomly to a page in the I Ching. The hexagram listed was called "People in the Home". This became a mantra for thinking about spaces -- who occupies them, and what ghosts from previous occupants linger.

I think of this piece as a character study; it's meant to evoke a particular mood more than sound a particular way.

Brought to life masterfully by Sonya Belaya.

Wise Ones (for fourteen players)

For fourteen players
November 2016, Revised November 2020
Duration: ~7 minutes

Purchase the score here, and the score and parts here.

At the time I was writing this piece, I was spending a lot of time with Ornette Coleman’s Peace, Arthur Russell’s Tower of Meaning, Gil Evans’ arrangements on the Miles Davis album Birth of the Cool, and Wayne Shorter’s Alegría. The instrumentation is:

Flute
English Horn
Clarinet in Bb
Bassoon
Horn in F
Flugelhorn
Trombone
Vibraphone, Suspended Cymbal (one player)
Bass Drum, Glockenspiel (one player)
Violin
Viola
Cello
Bass

This piece has never been performed, and I would absolutely love to have someone play it one day. If you’d like to play it, please contact me.

Warped and Wept (Multidisciplinary Performance Piece)

October 2015

Co-developed, co-composed, and performed by Michael Malis, Matthew Daher, and Costa Kazaleh Sirdenis

Instrumentation: piano, drumset, live electronics, text

Warped and Wept is a performance piece that draws on hour‐long conversations with 8 masculine‐identifying Detroit interviewees of various backgrounds and ages. Audio excerpts from their intimate articulations about their relationship with masculinity and with crying are interwoven with live improvised music, movement, animation, installation, and electroacoustic sound design.

Developed through an Artist Hub Residency at the Carr Center, Detroit MI

Performed at the Carr Center, Burdock (Toronto), and La Plante (Montréal).

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.

String Up the Moon (Musical Score for Original Theater Piece)

October 2013

Original music for the theater piece String Up the Moon, devised by Samuel Blake, Jim Manganello, Paul Manganello, and Sango Tajima

Instrumentation: piano, drums, percussion, and electronics

Produced by Fratellanza

Debuted at Detroit PuppetART Theater, Detroit MI, October 2013

“Risk-taking and courage, exhibited by talented theater artists who have boldly created something unconventional.” — Encore Michigan