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Reena Esmail

Composer

Chardonnay

May 7, 2001 by

performance of Chardonnay
Amir Farsi, flute

Program Notes

Chardonnay is one of my earliest pieces — I wrote it when I was seventeen years old, and just beginning to grapple with composition seriously.

The piece is so indicative of where I was at that time in my life: it is inspired in equal parts by Debussy’s incredible solo flute piece Syrinx, and the designs on a glass of Chardonnay at dinner at a restaurant in downtown Los Angeles. 

I went home after that dinner and wrote this piece in a single night — partially because I was inspired, and mostly because I had to. Up until this time, composing had just been a fun creative outlet for me. But suddenly the ground was shifting under me, as major composition programs started calling me back for auditions I never fathomed I would be offered. Some auditions required more pieces than I had in my portfolio… and so I wrote Chardonnay, had a recording made, and got on a plane with 48 hours of seeing that glass of wine.

Years later, I think the piece still has the tentativeness, urgency, and wild abandon of a teenager trying to find her place in an ever-expanding world.

Recording

see video above

Premiere/Performances

This piece was premiered by Peter Sheridan in June 2001 at the Brand Library, in Glendale CA.

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Instrumentation: Flute

Duration: 5′

Year: 2001

Movements: 1

Premiered by: Peter Sheridan

Program Notes

Recording

Premiere/Performances

Esmail is the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s 2020-2025 Swan Family Artist in Residence, and was Seattle Symphony’s 2020-21 Composer-in-Residence. She also holds awards/fellowships from United States Artists, the S&R Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Kennedy Center.

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