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Tight Sweater (2005) - Marc Mellits 

 

Composer Marc Mellits is one of the leading American composers of his generation, enjoying hundreds of performances throughout the world every year, making him one of the most performed living composers in the United States. His unique musical style is an eclectic combination of driving rhythms, soaring lyricism, and colorful orchestrations that all combine to communicate directly with the listener. His music is eclectic, all-encompassing, colorful, and always has a sense of forward motion. 

Tight Sweater is music that is tightly composed, with rapidly shifting patterns of notes and rhythms. Each one of the six movements explore relationships between the instruments, combining them in unique ways that each create vivid sound worlds. The instruments themselves are treated as only one small part of a larger combined instrument. Linear melodic lines are formed from vertical sounding harmonies; funky bass lines can dictate harmonic textures while chordal sounds can inspire melodic writing occurring between the instruments. 

Originally written for cello, marimba, and piano, this version for viola, bass clarinet, marimba, and piano was arranged for Sounding Board by Luke Ellard and Erik Schmidt. 

 

 

Across the Blackwood Horizon (2023) - Steven Landis, Jr. 

 

Across the Blackwood Horizon for clarinet, viola, and marimba was originally composed in 2023 as a clarinet feature. The work was inspired by and uses textures, harmonies, and rhythmic devices found in many subgenres of extreme metal. This version was created for and dedicated to Sounding Board in 2024 and revised during the winter and fall of 2025. The title references African Blackwood, which is used in the construction of clarinets. 

 

 

The Mist (2015) - Erik Alexander Schmidt 

 

The Mist was written for and is dedicated to Taylor Schmidt and was written shortly before I proposed to her in June of 2015. The piece began as a text setting of a poem that I had also composed for her. I hoped to capture a particular ephemeral moment from one of our many long walks through Richmond, Virginia — the city where we met — when a spring rainfall had just ended and the mist that hung in the air was crosshatched by the sunlight filtering through the trees.  

 

 

take you all the way (2023) - Susanna Hancock 

 

“Shortly before beginning this piece I lost my one-in-a-million dog, Peggie (full name: Pegasus), a 3.5-legged brindle pug. She was sassy, goofy, sweet, and utterly complex - one of the most vivid personalities I’ve ever known trapped in a fur baby’s body. While I have had several pets over the course of my life, Peggie was different - she was, in many ways, my soulmate and I don’t know if there was ever going to be enough time on this earth with her. In grieving, I found strange comfort in a line from a Reddit post in r/Stoicism - the poster said, “As crazy as it sounds, the day I [help my pet cross the rainbow bridge] is the day that I have been working for all this time - I have successfully taken them the whole way.” 

 

At first glance, the larger sections of take you all the way are modeled after Peggie’s time here: the beginning of her life (a mystery), the year when Tyler (my now husband) adopted her from a rescue, the many years we shared once I joined the picture and Peggie fully blossomed, and then the time after she left. The dearer metaphor I hold for the piece is that it is an act of remembering: an intimate, meditative reanimation of Peggie’s spirit – conjuring memories not only to relive, but to live in, and to never forget. I hope that this piece articulates the persevering love we have for those no longer with us, both furry and not. Thanks for letting me take you all the way, Peg.” 

 

 

Twelve Preludes (2024) - Juri Seo 

 

“As I grow older, the changing season evoke not only excitement but also a touch of apprehension, as I perceive these transitions as a cyclical journey that leads to inevitable demise. Rather than indulging in existential despair, I wished to find joy and healing by reflecting on the beauty of memories through the passage of time. The cycles of rebirth that the seasons bring offer sweet tenderness, and the seasonal anomalies — untimely snow and unexpectedly warm autumn days — inspire deep reverie, compelling us to experience non-linear time.” — Juri Seo (2024) 

 

 

multi groove (2025) - Rachael Keplin Gladen 

 

This evening’s performance of ‘multi groove’ is a live version of a mostly electronically produced track from my album, mosaics. This album started as a simple “I need to record the two pieces I wrote!” and slowly turned into lessons on how to capture the live sound of the looper directly into Ableton. Needless to say, the album did NOT turn into just a recording of two of my 10-minute length compositions. After numerous efforts to record, I found myself enjoying the process of pulling smaller pieces from the larger works, piecing them together, playing with audio effects, and living out my dream as an electronic music producer.  

 

‘multi-groove’ was one of the final tracks I created, taking all my favorite pizzicato pitches and blending them into one big chord. The track on the album only lasts 20-30 seconds, but today I’ll be expanding it into about 5-minutes. 

 

 

Fall (2023) - Rachael Keplin Gladen 

 

In the spring of 2023, I began a relationship with the RC-Boss 300 looper station. My background for creating music is rooted in free improvisation, and I thought it would be interesting to bring this genre into the world of looping. 

 

For those unfamiliar, a loop station is a multi-track foot pedal that simultaneously records sounds and plays them back in a continuous loop. Recording is started and stopped with a pedal, and the timing of hitting the pedal is crucial, especially when it comes to capturing rhythm. Modern loopers like the RC-Boss 300 (and my current RC-Boss 600) can apply various simple and complex effects to both the input and the overall track.  

 

After spending a lot of time with the looper and ‘writing’ a few pieces on my own, I walked into the studio on a crisp fall day during the final year of my doctoral studies. Both the weather and my need for a little bit of free-improvisation-therapy guided me towards a handful of minor-ninth chords that included A4, which I often love to play on the D string of my viola, and “Fall” was written.  

 

I am completely indebted to the members of Sounding Board for encouraging me to arrange this piece for our ensemble. It has seen 3 stages before today, but this space [UNCG] feels incredibly special as it is the home of it’s inception.  

 

Marcescence (2025) - Erik Alexander Schmidt 

 

Marcescence is the persistence of plant organs that are normally shed — a phenomenon where certain deciduous trees retain their withered leaves through the winter months instead of shedding them. These brown, withered leaves cling to their branches, their hold unbroken by wind, rain, ice, or snow. It is not until the arrival of spring, when new growth and green buds emerge, that these leaves are released and allowed to fall. 

This piece began as a way to amplify the otherwise quiet beauty of this natural occurrence. The sharp angles and jagged shapes dancing in the stark light of winter afternoon became surprisingly intense rhythmic structures. The concurrent delicacy and strength at play inspired moments of crystalline tranquility and beauty. 

As I worked to transform this imagery into sound, I was reminded of the many hours I spent as a child racing through the woods, especially during this time of year when the landscape is open and clear but for the marcescent leaves adorning the wintery boughs. I would imagine that I was embarking on a daring adventure or an epic quest. 

And so, that is what Marcescence became: a hero’s journey of strength and fragility, of death and the promise of new life, and of finally letting go when the time comes for growth.  

Marcescence is dedicated with much love, gratitude, and admiration to each of the members of Sounding Board, and I wish to thank them for their support and enthusiasm as we have embarked on this journey to bring this piece to life.