A moment of pause...and a visceral reaction. Struggling to find expression—trying to make sense when there are no satisfying reasons. Wrestling with brokenness and injustice. Reaching into the silence that comes when there are no words.

Liminal (adj): relating to an intermediate state, phase, or condition; in-between; transitional Composed in the spring of 2020, Liminal Space explores thoughts and feelings encountered in the space of time during the Coronavirus pandemic when the entire world experienced a range of emotions due to the uncertainty and fear surrounding the disease and the way it brought society to a halt.

Bonnie Cochran (Composer and Flutist)
Emily Ashman (Artist and Videographer)
Zoe Frigoletto (Dancer and Choreographer)

I. Waltz

II. Children Playing

III. Polka

In France, conservatories have commissioned new works for flute for more than 150 years, and all flutists have benefited from this. These pieces were originally written as test pieces for students at the Paris Conservatory, and they show off a flutist’s ability to shape lyrical phrases and also show off technical prowess. Fantasie was inspired by these French Conservatory pieces. It opens with a slow, lyrical introduction that is followed by alternating fast and slow passages. Fantasie was written for flutist Jennifer Kuk and premiered at her Carnegie Hall Debut recital.

An elegant, night-blooming flower, the fairy lily’s white petals are delicately blushed with pink. Fairy Lily imagines the possibility that the blooming of the fairy lily is the crowning point of a nightly forest ritual performed by countless fairies. In this piece, we follow the blooming lily from nightfall to dawn through the eyes of these magical creatures.

Silent Night (Flute and Harp version)

I. Playful

II. Contemplation

III. Solitude

IV. Little Dance (Caper)

I. Prelude

II. Jazzy

III. Interlude

IV. Freely

V. The Birds

Sleeping Spirits opens with a mysterious, unsettling theme—an exploration into uncertain territory. The contrasting middle section searches for answers and resolution, yearning to be centered and grounded. And in the final section we hear once more the opening theme, but now transformed by acceptance and resolve.

Flutopia, unlike most pieces, came to me fairly easily one day as I sat at the piano. I wrote it during a time when I was feeling a bit out of place. I was feeling disconnected at a social event, and rather than sticking it out, I retreated to a practice room. Instead of dwelling on the negative feelings, I created a new emotional world and in the process transformed my discomfort through the music. In 3 parts, the beginning and ending reflect a kind of questioning simplicity that contrasts with the waves of changing harmonies—reminiscent of Impressionist paintings—found in the middle section.

Flute Choir

Flute Quartet

I. Slow Movement

II. Fast Movement

"There's nothing easier than getting a human mind to ignore something it doesn't want to see.” (Kathryn Schulz, The New Yorker)

“Invisible” emerged out of an improvisation during a time where many invisible realities were pulled into the light for me to wrestle with and work on. Whether on the news, in my reading, or in my own life circumstances, I kept being confronted with people rendered invisible by social ills due to race, gender, age or class. This included not only societal invisibility, but also personal invisibility pressed on individuals through neglect or abuse. While not an uncommon feeling universally, it does manifest itself in different ways depending upon the person and circumstances. This piece reflects my process of wrestling with invisibility at different levels.

Amaryllis: a regal, trumpet-shaped flower, but also a young, lovesick shepherdess. With an ethereal quality, Amaryllis explores beauty and possibility. The first movement uses a mirror form—the first half of the piece being the statement, the flute cadenza being the focal point, and the second half being an imperfect reverse statement of the first half. It’s as though we take a look at something we know to be true as reflected back in a mirror, and it reveals something new to us that we had not noticed before.

In the second more introspective movement, we look more inward to probe how things outside ourselves profoundly affect our inner thoughts and feelings, much like falling raindrops create chains of ripples over the surface of water.

Complete

En Bateau

"Coffee"

Waltz of the Flowers

Flute, Clarinet, Piano Trio

Flute, Cello, Piano Trio