I composed my cello sonata for my dear friend and talented cellist, Ryan Donohue. It is one of my largest chamber pieces and also quite the workout for both cellist and pianist!

This piece is a special one, as it marked the beginning of an era that I started to make deeper musical considerations in my compositional process. I began to explore the significance of engineering the structure of a piece of music and how this idea affects the listener. Some of my most thoughtful harmonic/rhythmic writing is exuded throughout the work. The cello and piano writing is full of deep contrasts in density and does a lot to showcase the range of both instruments.

The 1st movement is marked pesante (heavy) and features a strict dotted theme that is neutralized by the placid nature of the 2nd movement, a tranquil rhapsody. The 3rd movement is an energetic 8 minute hybrid of the 1st, exploring many variations of its theme while showing off the virtuosic nature of the cello.