Works for viola - Ross James Carey

Air and Gigue for Solo Viola (2018), Duration: c. 6'40"

Air and Gigue for Solo Viola, PDF Score, 4 pages.

Air and Gigue for solo viola consists of two contrasting pieces. The first, 'Air', marked Andante consists of a simple melody often presented with an accompanying harmony through the use of double stops. The second, an extended 'Gigue' in 12/8 time marked Lively is in A-B-A-C-Acoda form. The A sections are in the mixolydian mode on G, while the B and C sections offer a contrast to this, the focus here being on motivic development while moving through different tonal centres.
Air is identical to the fourth movement, 'Viola Alone' of Sonatine for a solo violist and three hand-held percussionists written for the Portable Concerto Project in Kobe, Japan and was composed on the 31st of December 2011 in Shah Alam, Malaysia. Gigue was completed on September 11th 2018 in Xinzheng, Henan province, China.

The Big Swim for Flute, Viola & Piano (2006/09)

The Big Swim (2006/09) for flute, viola and piano, Score PDF
The Big Swim (2006/09) for flute, viola and piano, Flute Part PDF
The Big Swim (2006/09) for flute, viola and piano, Viola Part PDF

The Big Swim recounts the story of Kahe te Rau-o-te-rangi, a Maori woman who lived in 19th century New Zealand. Kahe was renowned for her seven mile swim from Kapiti Island to the mainland, with a child, Makare, strapped to her back, to raise the alarm when her tribe was under attack. In four movements: 'Working life with Scotch Jock' depicts the busy times Kahe and her Scottish husband had on their trading trips around the region; 'Threat', illustrates incipient panic overtaking the populace when war parties are seen massing towards the south; 'The Big Swim', depicts Kahe's determined strokes to the mainland, while in the final movement 'Safety is Reached', Kahe drags herself and her child slowly up the beach, willing herself onwards to raise the alarm and protect her people.
This is an extended arrangement of the original work in the instrumentation of flute, clarinet in B flat and piano. This was commissioned by Judith Exley for students of Paraparaumu College, Kapiti, New Zealand, and supported by a Creative Communities Grant (Kapiti) from Creative New Zealand/Toi Aotearoa, and first performed by them at the NZCT Schools' Chamber Music Contest in Wellington in 2007. The version for flute, viola and piano was first performed in a read-through by students at a Music Summer School in Buggeru (CI), Italy in August 2011.

Sakura for alto flute and three violas

Brief biography: Ross James Carey is a composer and solo and collaborative pianist. Born in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, since March 2017 Ross has been a foreign professor in the School of Music and Drama at Sias University in Xinzheng, Henan, China. Prior to this, Ross was senior lecturer at University Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in Shah Alam, Malaysia from 2010-15, and at Lim Kok Wing University in Cyberjaya, Malaysia from 2015-16. Ross holds a PhD in composition from the University of Melbourne.
Ross's compositions have been widely performed by many outstanding performers. Upcoming performances include …valse oubliée… for toy piano at the first Toy Music Festival in Seoul in November 2019, …valse vermillon… performed by pianist Stephen De Pledge at the RMIT conference in Auckland in January 2020, Earth Resonance for toy piano recorded by David Bohn for the Toy Piano 100 Notes Project on YouTube and the release on the Phasma record label of Concert Piece on 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star' by flutist Iwona Glinka and pianist Vicky Stylianou. Ross will also perform several premieres of works for solo piano in his recitals at St. Peter's Church, Mount Maunganui and University of Waikato, Hamilton in March 2020. Recent performances include Peony for flute duo by Beatrice Petrocchi and Vilma Campitelli in performances in Xinzheng (Sias University), Rome and Ancona, Toccatina (Elegy) for string quartet performed by the Aroha String Quartet as part of their Chamber Music New Zealand concert series in 2018 and Jingle Fantasy performed by pianist Felicity Mazur-Park at the Dallas Public Library in December 2018. Ross is active performing his own and other contemporary composers' works and has performed around the Asia-Pacific region at venues including the China Conservatory of Music Beijing, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University, the National University of Singapore, Theatre Utan Kayu Jakarta, XEBEC Hall Kobe, the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre, Universiti Sians Malaysia Penang and in conferences at UiTM Shah Alam and Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris Tanjong Malim. As a collaborative pianist Ross has performed standard and contemporary repertoire with, among others, violinists Maya Musaeva and Kirtley Leigh, violist Katia Tiutiunnik, cellist Lachlan Dent and the UiTM and Sias Symphony Orchestras. Ross's scores can be found at the Centre for New Zealand Music (SOUNZ) and other publishers. He can be contacted at rossjamcarey@outlook.com