piano four hands, c.7’30, 2025.

Commissioned by the Canberra International Music Festival

A confluence is the point where two rivers meet, or more broadly, where two forces merge to become something new.

‘Confluence’ is based on a short sketch that had lived in my mind for some time. Despite its brevity, it was clear in tone, highly evocative and I was excited by the potential for greater complexity with four hands.

The pacing of the music is deliberately consistent; I wanted the repetitive rhythms to feel trance-like, inviting listeners to explore the various patterns within them. At times, sudden accents pull focus, momentarily carving out a melody from the texture, suggesting a more deliberate conversation between the two parts. Other times, notes are added, removed or shifted to offset the sequence, giving a sense of the music twisting and turning; all of this to keep the music flowing forward. The piece, as a result, is evocative, sentimental and at times, dramatic. It is also playful. Four hands moving in tandem, dancing with lightness and energy, drawing in as close as physically possible and ultimately expanding out, diverging into two separate streams once more.

Listen to an excerpt: