Mosaics: new music from Iowa and beyond

The finished product of this thesis is a high-quality recording of contemporary music for solo piano by Iowa composers: Luke Dahn, Joseph Dangerfield, Elaine Erickson, Bonnie Johansen-Werner, David Maki, and Zachary Stanton. These Iowa composers include the University of Iowa alumni, faculty, and featured artists from the Iowa Composers Forum. Chosen for the project are the following repertoire: Dahn’s Five Mazurkas; Erickson’s Psalm 90; Johansen-Werner’s Ancestral Journeys; Maki’s Lake Sonata; Stanton’s Scenic Route and Three Pieces for piano; and, Dangerfield’s Remnants.

Unified by an Iowa-connection serving as its cornerstone, the thesis ponders upon musical reflections on place, time, and musical quotations. The chosen works, aiming to narrow the gap between the long-lasting traditions of European classical music and the music of our time, display classical music traits, reminiscing on the legacy of the past while thriving towards the future. Its aspects of coexistence and intertwining also relate to the Iowa connections that have been fostered and built over decades by generations of music professionals who have called Iowa home. The compositions share certain programmatic characteristics, and most of them possess a significant amount of lyricism with their use of cantabile melody and harmony in an engaging innovative contemporary language.

As an Iowa graduate and a new music advocate, it is my privilege to introduce and promote the first-ever compilation of new music for solo piano by Iowa composers to audiences both in Iowa and beyond.