Scattered Threads by William Susman

Belarca Records presents Scattered Threads, the debut album of violinist Dylan Hamme, featuring pianist Nicole Brancato, performing music by William Susman. The album includes a premiere recording of Duo Montuño plus Aria, Seven Scenes for Four Violins, Motions of Return and Scatter My Ashes.

Scattered Threads brings together a collection of works that trace evolving musical ideas, reimagined through new voices and timbres. While some pieces have appeared in different forms before, each recording on this album offers a fresh perspective and a world-premiere interpretation.

NOTE FROM THE COMPOSER

About five years ago, I attended a wonderful performance at Old First Concerts in San Francisco, where my friend Jed Distler performed alongside several outstanding pianists. After the concert, we went out for drinks, and I struck up a conversation with one of the performers, Nicole Brancato. About a month later, she reached out to let me know she wanted to program some of my music at the Seven Hills Chamber Music Festival, which she co-founded with violist Dudley Raine IV. That moment marked the beginning of a rich and rewarding musical relationship.

Since then, Nicole has performed many of my works, including the ensemble pieces Camille and The Starry Dynamo, as well as Aria, a duo for viola and piano with Dudley. Each time, I’ve been struck by the beauty, depth, and elegance of her musicianship. We share similar roots in both jazz and classical traditions, and she instinctively understands and deeply feels the rhythmic foundation of my music. So when it came time for this recording project with Dylan, it felt only natural that Nicole would be the perfect pianist. I was thrilled when she agreed to join us. She and Dylan worked together beautifully, and I couldn’t have asked for two more thoughtful, expressive collaborators.

My connection with Dylan began through Katrina Krimsky. Katrina, Dylan’s great-aunt, was a major influence in his life and had been telling me about him for years. She introduced me to Dylan a few years ago when they both came over for lunch, followed afterward by some spontaneous score reading. A week later, Dylan texted me about recording my music, and I thought, carpe diem!

Now 23, Dylan is clearly on the path to great things. You can hear his remarkable performance of the Ligeti Violin Concerto on his website, learned in just a month, played entirely from memory, and featuring an improvised cadenza. Dylan’s passion for 20th- and 21st-century music shines throughout this recording. He recently won a major competition in New York and made his Carnegie Hall debut performing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto.

Katrina and I met about 15 years ago when I was looking for a piano coach to help me return to performing. I had written the first two books of Quiet Rhythms, and my frequent collaborator Joan Jeanrenaud recommended her. Katrina was an extraordinary pianist who worked with everyone from Stockhausen to Riley and taught at both Eastman and Mills. With her deep roots in the avant-garde and jazz worlds, we quickly became close friends.

There is another thread to this story. In 1977, when I was sixteen, I attended Jamey Aebersold’s jazz clinic at Northern Illinois University. After an audition process, I was thrilled to be selected by James Williams for the top combo, which was led by the great trumpeter Woody Shaw. To give you an idea of the level of talent Jamey attracted, the second combo, out of forty, was led by Dave Liebman.

It was an inspiring experience, and I still remember the sense of awe I felt when we played Katrina Ballerina during one of our daily sessions. The moment was especially thrilling because I had heard Woody perform the piece at Chicago’s Jazz Showcase, which at the time was located at Rush and Delaware. During high school, it had become my regular destination to hear all the jazz greats.

A few years earlier, Katrina and Woody had been together in San Francisco. Katrina was teaching at Mills at the time and played piano before shows at Keystone Korner, where she crossed paths with many of the jazz legends who performed alongside Woody. He eventually composed a piece in her honor, naming it Katrina Ballerina. The title came from the way he described her touch at the piano. As Katrina once recalled to me, Woody had said, “Your fingers looked like little ballerinas dancing on the keys.”

As a tribute to her memory, I have included Katrina Ballerina on this album, performed by Dylan and me. It felt like the most fitting way to honor her, through the music, the relationships, and the unexpected connections that have shaped this project. When Katrina and Dylan visited my home, we took turns playing Katrina Ballerina. It was a joy to witness her and her grandnephew sharing a moment of music-making with the very piece that, in its own quiet way, had brought us all together.

All of these moments of serendipitous meetings, shared histories, and artistic crossings have come together on this album titled Scattered Threads.

William Susman is a composer and pianist.

His music has earned praise from Gramophone as “texturally shimmering and harmonically ravishing,” from Fanfare, "crystalline . . . and gloriously lyrical,” and The New York Times, “vivid, turbulent, and rich-textured.” Textura describes Susman as “not averse to letting his affection for Afro-Cuban, jazz, and other forms seep into his creative output.”

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