Opus number: op. 84

Title: Serenade No. 1

Instrumentation: guitar trio

Commissioned: Rivers School, for the 29^th Annual Seminar on Contemporary Music for the Young

Date written: 2006

Length: 12 minutes

Premiere performance: April, 1, 2007, Rivers School. Joav Birjiniuk, Faith Woodside, Grace Daher, guitarists

Subsequent performances: January 20, 2008, Williams Hall at New England Conservatory; 2009 Guitar Society. John Muratore, Mark Small, Robert Sullivan, guitarists

Program Notes: Serenade no. 1 for guitar trio, Op. 84, was commissioned by the Rivers School Seminar on Contemporary Music in 2007. As the commissioned composer that year at Rivers, I was asked to write a piece for three guitarists that could be playable by high school students. The piece was later played in 2008 at New England Conservatory and also in 2009 at the New England Guitar Festival by Mark Small, John Muratore, and Robert Sullivan. The Serenade is filled with contemporary dance rhythms and references to pop music including a final trio that recalls the closing of the Beatles’ Abbey Road side 2.