Shifts (1999)

for piano duet

Shifts was commissioned as a part of a University of Oregon workshop with Quattro Mani and was the first piece of music I wrote as a graduate student. It was meant to be symbolic of my “Shift” from the east coast to the west coast, as well as the “Shift” from whole-tone to chromatic scales and pitch sets. At the time I had just discovered Ligeti’s piano etudes which were a clear influence.