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.