In the spring of 2020, I was recording virtual concerts for retirement communities from my living room to pay the mortgage. I started commissioning new music because I needed something to believe in, something to work towards, something to look back on and help me remember.

Six years later, almost everything has changed: I left my teaching and admin jobs to perform full time, got married, adopted a puppy (and then another puppy), moved houses, recorded an album, and became a mother. Through all of it, I kept commissioning. Each piece was written at a particular moment, shaped by what its composer was carrying at the time. Together, the pieces are time capsules of the moments we were collectively living.

“Retrospects in Reverb” will be the first recording of ten of the works I have commissioned over the last six years, composed by Eliza Brown, Dika Chartoff, Anthony Cheung, Zosha Di Castri, Rex Isenberg, Emily Koh, Reinaldo Moya, Jeffrey Mumford, Nkeiru Okoye, and Shawn Okpebholo. Recording these pieces lets me preserve each composer's intentions while also leaving my own interpretive mark on them as the first performer and commissioner. 

I'm still finalizing recording details, including location, personnel, and label. The recording will take place in mid-2027, with a release planned for late 2028.

I'm thrilled to share that “Retrospects in Reverb” has received seed funding from the highly competitive Alice M. Ditson Fund. The small seed grant is the start of something beautiful, but I need your support to bring the project fully to life. 

My goal is to raise $15,000 to cover the essential costs of making a professional recording: studio time, a producer and engineer team, post-production, and more. Your tax-deductible contribution will bring this music to listeners worldwide through streaming, and will give future pianists and composers a definitive reference for these new works. 

I'm a full-time concert pianist based in Indiana, performing around 40 concerts a year across North America. My debut solo album, released in 2024, reached #2 on Billboard's Traditional Classical chart and was praised by outlets across North America. Including these ten piano works, I have commissioned more than 30 pieces of music, including these ten piano works, and premiered close to 300 new works throughout my career. My third album, to be released in the fall of 2027, will be another exciting program, featuring favorite works by Amy Beach, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Sofia Gubaidulina.

A thank-you

Your belief in this music, and in me, means more than I can say. Thank you for helping me turn these last six years into something that can be shared, held, and heard.

With deepest gratitude,

Clare