Joan Tower Livres

(Piano). Composer Note: Ivory and Ebony was written for the 2009 San Antonio International Piano Competition. The "themes" in the work are based on the black and white notes of the piano, often played separately but occasionally together at climactic points. This composition was designed as a virtuoso piece for the outstanding piano competitors of the competition. Joan Tower

(String Solo). Composer Note: String Force (2010) was commissioned by the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis for the 2010 competition and underwritten by the Christel DeHaan Family Foundation in honor of the children and families of Christel House. It is dedicated with great affection and admiration to the violinst Jaime Laredo. The 7-minute work was an attempt at writing a challenging piece for violin. Between the high speed of notes within a visceral energy context and the high delicate registral writing, there are many technical as well as musical challenges within this work. After hearing the sixteen semi-finalists at the Indianapolis Violin Competition perform String Force, I realized there is also much range for interpretation.