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David Fick (b. 1970)
A native of Tacoma, Washington, David Fick is an accomplished composer and educator. He earned his degrees in music composition from the University of Southern California and UCLA, later joining the USC faculty, where he taught music theory and composition for twelve years. From 1998 to 2001, Fick served as composer-in-residence for the Wild Ginger Philharmonic in Los Angeles, contributing four major orchestral works to their repertoire. Now based in Memphis, Fick is an active presence in the music community as a composer, arranger, and teacher. He shares his home with his dogs Woody and Penelope, and his cat, Zeus.
David Fick | Variations on “The Star Spangled Banner” (2026) | clarinet, violin, cello, piano
From the composer: Whereas a conventional ‘theme and variations’ begins with the announcement of a theme (whether a pre-existing melody or tune of the composer’s own devising) – followed by multiple variations, my Variations on “The Star Spangled Banner” reserves the statement of the theme until the end.
Inspired by the 250th anniversary of the signing of the American Declaration of Independence in 1776, my piece is a metaphor for the acquisition of political sovereignty. It is only through political strife and revolution that independence is won– which is to say, it is a state of mankind’s evolutionary process that must be earned. By placing the familiar version of The Star Spangled Banner at the end of the piece, I was hoping, in some modest way, to mirror the process by which the dream of American Independence was ultimately won. As such, it is only after the violence of the storm that we encounter the calm majesty of The Star Spangled Banner.
Originally composed for orchestra, this version of my piece is an arrangement that was made expressly for the talented musicians of SOLI.
Reena Esmail (b. 1983)
Reena Esmail works between the worlds of Indian and Western classical music to bring communities together through the creation of equitable musical spaces. Esmail holds degrees from The Juilliard School and the Yale School of Music. A resident of Los Angeles, she is the 2020-23 Swan Family Artist in Residence with Los Angeles Master Chorale, and the 2020-21 Composer in Residence with Seattle Symphony. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the Board of New Music USA, and Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Shastra, a non-profit organization that promotes cross-cultural music connecting musical traditions of India and the West.
Reena Esmail | America/Desh (2020) | piano
From the composer: This arrangement intertwines America the Beautiful with a melody in Raag Desh (from the Hindustani classical tradition of India). ‘Desh’ means ‘country’ in Hindi. (The reason why South Asians often refer to themselves as ‘desi’ – meaning ‘of the country’. It implies a unity that precedes Partition and acknowledges that there was a time when India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh were not divided into separate countries, as they are now).
The “America the Beautiful” of India is called Vande Mataram. Just like America the Beautiful, it also celebrates these beautiful, varied landscapes in a vast country filled with so many natural treasures. Vande Mataram is, unsurprisingly, in Raag Desh.
For immigrants, the love of country is often as much for America as for their country of origin, and I hope this arrangement evokes a sense of multi-national pride, especially among the ever-growing population of South Asians living in America.
Robert Xavier Rodríguez (b. 1946)
Hailed as “one of the major American composers of his generation” (Texas Monthly), San Antonio native composer Robert Xavier Rodríguez’s music is described as “romantically dramatic” (Washington Post) and “richly lyrical” (Musical America), often imbued with a “physical animation” and an “all-encompassing sense of humor” (Los Angeles Times). His prolific catalog spans all genres, including opera, orchestral, and chamber music. A recipient of the Prix Lili Boulanger, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and five NEA grants, Rodríguez has served as Composer-in-Residence for both the San Antonio and Dallas Symphonies. With over 2,000 professional performances in recent seasons, his works are featured by leading international organizations such as the New York City Opera, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and major orchestras including the Chicago, Boston, and National Symphonies and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Robert Xavier Rodríguez | Piñata para los amantes (‘Piñata for lovers’) (2023) | clarinet, cello
From the composer: Piñata para los amantes for clarinet in B-flat and cello is the result of a commission from SOLI Chamber Ensemble. The two designated players, clarinetist Stephanie Key and cellist David Mollenauer, are a married couple and spent their first date attending a performance of my opera Frida, based on the life of the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, at the Houston Grand Opera. Since I wrote my orchestral overture Piñata (1991) as a study for Frida (1991), which was also in progress, I decided to arrange that overture as a virtuoso duo in tribute to those two performers. The piece blends samba rhythms and Mexican folk songs, as well as American Jazz techniques. It excitedly depicts a swinging piñata where “after a bustling introduction… the excitement builds. There is a series of mighty whacks at the piñata, which eventually breaks open into a triumphant coda.” Piñata received its premiere on July 19, 2023 at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson, WY.
Juri Seo 서주리 (b. 1981)
A professor of music at Princeton University, Juri Seo is a Korean-American composer and pianist. Her compositions merge many of the fascinating discoveries from the past century—in particular, the expanded timbral palette and unorthodox structure—with functional tonality, counterpoint, and classical form. She is a Guggenheim fellow and a recipient of a Koussevitzky Commission from the Library of Congress. Her portrait albums include Obsolete Music, Mostly Piano, Respiri, and Toy Store.
Juri Seo 서주리 | America the Beautiful – “sotto voce” (2020) | piano
From the composer: My variation America the Beautiful – “sotto voce” is inspired by America’s tenacious struggle to find elusive unity among its heterogeneous population. In its fragmented form, the tune America the Beautiful builds gradually toward a singular moment in which an ‘arabesque’ in B major floats above the tune set in B-flat major. Ironically, this bi-tonal passage marks the most harmonious moment in my variation, imbued with a distinct sense of resolution. It is a metaphor for a complex union in this chromatic nation, where dissonance has become a crucial ingredient.
Roy Harris (1898-1979)
Born near Chandler, Oklahoma, Roy Harris was a major creative force in the development of a distinctly American style of symphonic composition. His works, numbering over 200 across various genres, are characterized by broad, powerfully emotional musical gestures. Known for his expansive palette and manipulation of folk songs, Harris created a musical landscape that reflects the culture of the American West. His distinguished career included serving as Composer Laureate of California and holding teaching posts at institutions such as Princeton, Cornell, and UCLA.
Roy Harris | Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight (1953) | mezzo-soprano, violin, cello, piano
Originally composed as a chamber cantata (subtitled “A Cantata of Lamentation”), Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight sets American poet Vachel Lindsay’s 1914 poem to music. Lindsay wrote the text as a pacifist statement during the onset of World War I, portraying the spirit of Abraham Lincoln restlessly pacing the streets of Springfield, Illinois, unable to rest while the world is consumed by the “sins of all the war-lords.” Lindsay (1879-1931) became well known during his time as the ‘Prairie Troubadour’. Believing his poetry was meant to be sung, he traveled the U.S. on foot, sharing his works.
Despite its small instrumentation, this work is conceived with a ‘grand scale’ and ‘orchestral sound.’ Harris employs his hallmark ‘autogenesis’ technique, allowing the music to blossom organically from a single, tiny seed motif.
The piece begins with slow, hollow piano chords followed by a dark and wordless lament from the mezzo-soprano, and concludes with a powerful, affirmative assertion as all voices unite on a final plea for peace reaching from “Cornland” to “Alp and Sea.”
Pierre Jalbert (b. 1967)
Earning widespread notice for his richly colored and superbly crafted scores, Pierre Jalbert has developed a musical language that is engaging, expressive, and “immediately captures one’s attention with its strong gesture and vitality” (American Academy of Arts and Letters). His numerous honors include the Rome Prize, the BBC Masterprize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Jalbert’s music, often inspired by sources ranging from plainchant to natural phenomena, has been performed worldwide at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, and the Kennedy Center. His works have been featured by major orchestras including the Boston, National, and Cincinnati Symphonies, and by premier chamber ensembles such as the Emerson String Quartet. A prolific recording artist with several recent CD releases, Jalbert has served as Composer-in-Residence with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the California Symphony. He is currently a Professor of Music at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and a co-founder of the Houston-based music collective, Musiqa.
Pierre Jalbert | Endeavor (2020) | piano
From the composer: Endeavor was written for pianist Min Kwon as part of her America/ Beautiful Project. Scherzo-like, playful, and dramatic, this variation uses the initial falling third in the American the Beautiful melody and surrounds it with skittering, high register figures, while we hear the melody in high, long tones. This eventually builds into more strident and rich chords in the meatier middle and low register, with the theme apparent but transformed. The natural landscapes of America will always be beautiful, despite our failings and our struggles to unite, even in times of crisis, as we endeavor to form a more perfect union. Many thanks to Min Kwon for this wonderful project.
The title ‘Endeavor’ was inspired by the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, specifically the line “We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union…” We are constantly “endeavoring” to improve as a nation, and that’s how we started… this is especially resonant in these troubled times.
Jessie Montgomery (b. 1981)
Jessie Montgomery is a GRAMMY® Award-winning composer, violinist, and educator whose work interweaves classical music with elements of vernacular music, improvisation, poetry, and social consciousness, making her an acute interpreter of 21st-century American sound and experience. Named Performance Today’s 2025 Classical Woman of the Year, her profound works have been described as “turbulent, wildly colorful, and exploding with life” (The Washington Post), and are performed regularly by leading orchestras, ensembles, and soloists around the world. In June 2024, Montgomery concluded a three-year appointment as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Mead Composer-in-Residence.
A founding member of PUBLIQuartet and former member of the Catalyst Quartet, Montgomery is a frequent and highly engaged collaborator with performing musicians, composers, choreographers, playwrights, poets, and visual artists alike. At the heart of Montgomery’s work is a deep sense of community enrichment and a desire to create opportunities for young artists and underrepresented composers to broaden audience experiences in classical music spaces.
Montgomery has been recognized with many prestigious awards and fellowships, including the Civitella Ranieri Fellowship, the Sphinx Medal of Excellence and Sphinx Virtuosi Composer-in-Residence, the Leonard Bernstein Award from the ASCAP Foundation, and Musical America’s 2023 Composer of the Year.
Jessie Montgomery | Peace (2020) | clarinet, piano
From the composer: Written just a month after the Great Sadness of the first quarantine orders due to COVID-19, facing the shock felt by the whole globe as well as personal crisis, I find myself struggling to define what actually brings me joy. And I’m at a stage of making peace with sadness as it comes and goes like any other emotion. I’m learning to observe sadness for the first time, not as a negative emotion, but as a necessary dynamic to the human experience.
Aaron Copland (1900 – 1990)
Widely considered the “Dean of American Composers,” Aaron Copland was a central figure in creating a musical style that many recognize as the “American sound.” His works often incorporate folk melodies and open, “vernacular” harmonies that capture the vastness of the American landscape. Beyond his compositions, Copland was a vital mentor and advocate for his peers; notably, he encouraged Roy Harris and others to study in Paris with the teacher Nadia Boulanger, who was instrumental in guiding many composers toward identifying their singular musical voices. Three composers from this program studied with the luminary Boulanger: Copland, Harris, and Robert Xavier Rodriguez.
Aaron Copland | Old American Songs (1952) | mezzo-soprano, piano
In the early 1950s, Copland turned his attention to the rich tradition of 19th-century American folk music, arranging ten songs across two sets. His goal was to treat these “unadorned” melodies with a transparent piano accompaniment that preserved their original spirit while elevating them to the concert stage. Following the immense success of the first set, commissioned and premiered by British composer/pianist Benjamin Britten and tenor Peter Pears, Copland noted that “everyone seemed to enjoy singing and hearing the first set of folk song settings so much that I decided to arrange a second group of five.” Zion’s Walls and At the River, both from the second set, were premiered by American baritone William Warfield and Aaron Copland at the piano in 1953.
Zion’s Walls: This vigorous revivalist song was originally published in 1855 in John G. McCurry’s songbook The Social Harp. Copland was so taken with its rhythmic vitality and “shout” tradition that he later used it as the basis for the choral finale of his opera The Tender Land. Its lyrics invite the faithful to “gather at the walls of Zion,” echoing the religious fervor of 19th-century American camp meetings.
At the River: Setting the 1864 hymn by Robert Lowry (“Shall We Gather at the River?”), this arrangement is one of Copland’s most enduringly popular works. It is a pensive meditation on hope and peace, characterized by a simple dignity. Copland’s setting employs lush, supporting chords that provide a sense of profound calm—a thematic bridge to the meditative quality found in Jessie Montgomery’s Peace earlier on the program.
Shulamit Ran (b. 1949)
Hailed as “gloriously human,” Shulamit Ran’s music is noted for its “white-hot emotional content,” intelligence, and compositional clarity. A child prodigy in her native Israel, she continued her studies in the U.S. at the Mannes College of Music. Ran was awarded the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for her Symphony and has received nearly every major American composing honor, including two Guggenheim Fellowships and the Kennedy Center-Friedheim Award.
Her works have been performed worldwide by the New York, Israel, and Chicago Philharmonics under maestros such as Daniel Barenboim and Gustavo Dudamel. Ran served as Composer-in-Residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, where she premiered her opera Between Two Worlds. She is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and Professor Emerita at the University of Chicago; she is currently composing a full-scale opera based on the life of Anne Frank.
Shulamit Ran | America Summer 2020 [the Beautiful] (2020) | piano
From the composer: Pianist Min Kwon’s America/Beautiful Project was not the first time pre-existing musical materials were to be at the core of a challenge I took on as composer. Prior commissions of this nature brought me face-to-face with Bach’s Art of Fugue, the Ode to Joy from Beethoven’s Ninth, and a signature viola moment in Berio’s Folk Songs as “source materials” for new compositions. I love the challenge as it taps on the imagination in ways that can be quite intriguing to tackle: how to “borrow” musical materials that can range from the formidable to the widely familiar, and create something that will let the listener discover something new in them?
What made this particular assignment different from prior ones, however, was that the historical moment when Min Kwon developed her project could not be ignored and was, unequivocally, on my mind as I began composing this brief work in late May 2020, completing it on June 19th. Concurrently, with pondering how best to harness, musically, the intervals, rhythms, and implied harmonies of a melody as familiar and as iconic as America the Beautiful, I knew there was a dark undercurrent that needed to come to the fore, perhaps questioning “the Beautiful”. All this led to an ending that hints at the unresolved, and to the title America Summer 2020 [the Beautiful].
John Williams (b. 1932)
John Williams is one of America’s most accomplished composers for both film and the concert stage. In a career spanning over five decades, he has composed the scores for more than 100 films, including a 40-year partnership with Steven Spielberg that produced Schindler’s List, E.T., Jaws, and Jurassic Park, and many more. With 50 Oscar nominations and five wins, he is the Academy’s most-nominated living person.
Beyond Hollywood, Williams served as the 19th Music Director of the Boston Pops Orchestra (1980–1993) and currently holds the title of Laureate Conductor. He maintains thriving relationships with the world’s leading orchestras and artists and has composed numerous concert works and concertos. A graduate of the Juilliard School and a former jazz pianist, Williams has received the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honor, and 22 Grammy Awards. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and holds honorary degrees from 21 universities, remaining one of the nation’s most distinguished and contributive musical voices.
John Williams | Air and Simple Gifts (2009) | clarinet, violin, cello, piano
Air and Simple Gifts was composed for the first inauguration of President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009. Performed just moments before the oath of office by an illustrious group of artists —Anthony McGill (clarinet), Itzhak Perlman (violin), Yo-Yo Ma (cello), and Gabriela Montero (piano)—it marked the first time a classical quartet was featured in a presidential inauguration.
Williams based the work on Joseph Brackett’s 19th-century Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts.” The tune is a cornerstone of American music, famously utilized by Aaron Copland—one of President Obama’s favorite composers—in his ballet Appalachian Spring.
The work opens with a pensive “Air” melody introduced by the violin and explored in a modal duet with the cello. The entrance of the clarinet signals a shift to the “Simple Gifts” theme. This section evolves into a series of increasingly energetic variations where the original “Air” and the hymn tune intermingle. After reaching a rhythmic peak, the music returns to the reflective “Air” material. The work concludes with a striking and unusual series of cadences, moving through shifting harmonies before settling into a final triumphant key of D major.
America/Beautiful Project
https://www.america-beautiful.com/about-the-project
Why then, and why now…
By Min Kwon
May 2025
It was March 2020—those desperate, desolate days. Do you remember? The pandemic, and my broken heart, fueled the idea for America/Beautiful: a vision to create new piano music in America—variations on the iconic song “America the Beautiful.” The melody, the lyrics, the sentiment, the hope, the promise, the longing—the everything.
Watching my husband (a physician) come home each night drenched in sweat and tears from the devastation, knowing there were not enough hospital beds for the growing number of COVID patients in need of oxygen, I felt utterly useless as a musician.
What is my job? What is an artist to do in the face of such desperate urgency? Somehow, playing Bach for an online audience—even as an offering of solace— just did not feel like enough. That was when I began listening—exhaustively—to the sounds of American music and its creators. I reached out to composers across the country through countless emails, phone calls, and Zoom meetings. I no longer wanted to remain in my bubble; the pandemic only amplified a sense of isolation and curiosity. Who are my musical neighbors? Who else is making music in America? Where do they come from? What inspires them? Are they like me—or different from me? Fast forward five years and seventy-six composers later, ranging in age from 21 to 96, I am still at work. The project has completely captured me. It is now an all-consuming labor of love.
Its Mission:
• To celebrate the cultural melting pot that is our country.
• To unite as many voices as possible for one purpose, one project, one question: What is America? Is it beautiful, was it ever, or will it ever be?
• To listen better. To understand more deeply.
From America, Changing the Same—with its dark, clustered, even tortured blocks of left-hand chords, while high-registered right-hand octaves struggle or scream to be heard, shifting from whispering ppp to roaring fff—to works titled United Underdog, Endure, Playing with Fire, america, NEVER beautiful, Still Beautiful, You Are Welcome Here, Under the Same Flag… these are just a few of the variations. And the meanings beyond the music are as important as the sounds themselves.
America has changed a lot over the past five years—and so have we. Friends with whom I frequently dined are no longer living. My elder daughter Lauren, a Fourth of July baby, used to cry over her school, suddenly confined to a computer screen. She now towers over me, wiser and taller. My younger daughter Sophie, then a seven-year-old, used to help me scotch-tape together endless sheets of new music that stretched across the living room floor. Both girls have spent the past five years listening to their mom practice, Zoom with composers, and try to make sense of music that—at first—was unrecognizable, senseless, dissonant… probably even ugly. But they also saw their mom working hard, making those zillions of black and white notes sound, little by little, more intelligent, impactful—and even beautiful.
Why then, when many feel that America is not beautiful, do I persist? Because, despite its ever-sprawling complexity, I believe America is beautiful. It is the country my parents chose to come to, to give my sister and me a better education so we could make music that has meaning—share music that matters. I believe in the transformative power of music. And when you listen to this thought-provoking, soul-stirring, culturally rich, and staggeringly varied collection of new works, I believe you will agree too.
All seventy-six composers who contributed to this project reflected deeply on our country. They entrusted me to speak through their voices—a responsibility I do not take lightly. It moves me. So I keep at it. I believe I can reach more people and invite them to join this call for action—whether by being in the audience or by sharing the platform. Since the project began to find stages around the country, I’ve invited:
Dancers to dance, choreographers to choreograph, singers to sing, and artists to create—all to be showcased alongside the music. My students and colleagues are beginning to learn these works and perform them with me in concert.
Does “America the Beautiful” only exist in its lyrics? Can each of these new variations help open your ears, spark curiosity, and foster shared hope? I believe that all Americans can work to make America beautiful. It may take my entire lifetime—and then some—but I want to try, with My America/Beautiful.