Junko Mori: Imagery (1987)

Mori's Imagery pays homage to Bartok as well as to impressionism in the delicacy of its opening statement, a series of ascending arpeggios in the upper register. This first section returns several times and at the end, each time in a slightly varied form-the last, spiraling higher and higher until the final note which is the highest on the piano. Several alternating sections move explosively to climax before yielding to this first gesture.

Nagako Konishi: Fantasy for Piano (1995, rev. 1996)

Konishi's structural approach is evident in her Fantasy-a piece that is generated from an initial series of major 7th/minor 2nds. The use of the sostenuto pedal emphasizes this structure and makes possible the superimposition of long sounds with short, drum-like sounds. At times, the short sounds take over in a driving climax, then are suddenly interrupted by a cantabile series of chords. Most striking is the unmistakable sound of bells-Buddhist temple bells (as identified by the composer) -- toward the conclusion of the piece. The softness of seconds and seventh chords alternates with the stark reverberation of the open fifths of the bell sounds.

Keiko Fujiie: Pas de Deux II, Op. 14 (1989, rev. 1989)

This piece was written prior to Fujiie's brief residence in New York in 1993. A companion piece, Pas de Deux I, was written in 1987. As the title implies, both pieces, (but especially Pas de Deux II) are highly gestural, including clusters and rapid hand crossings. One can easily recognize the ternary form. An intense first section sets a series of clusters against a driving ostinato figure. The left hand negotiates the clusters in a syncopated rhythm from the lowest register to the highest register, concluding with an explosive cascade. The "B" section is anchored by three cluster chords repeated at long intervals throughout. Around these chords are various motivic wisps, pointillistic and scattered throughout the high and low registers of the piano. A poignant melody enters in the midst of the chaos, itself repeated, almost like a mournful elegy--unshaken by the swirl of chaotic notes around it. The "A" section returns, but is suddenly aborted and the piece ends in a high tremolo.

Pianist Margaret Lucia received bachelor's and master's degrees in piano from Indiana University and a Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego. She has premiered several new music works, appearing at festivals in California, the Midwest and the East Coast. She also performed a solo piano work at the International Meeting of the College Music Society in Kyoto, Japan in 1999 and last June performed at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. for the International Alliance of Women in Music's annual chamber music festival. She has recently appeared with orchestra in performances of concertos by Mozart, Beethoven and Franck. In June of 2003, she will appear at Carnegie/Weill Hall in New York City with tenor Dr. Robert Cart in a joint recital featuring vocal and solo piano music of Spain and Latin America. In addition, she has presented lecture recitals on music by women throughout the United States, most recently in Virginia and New Jersey. While in California, she was the pianist in chamber music seminars coached by the late Rafael Drurian and a performer with the San Diego Museum of Art Chamber Ensemble and SONOR, a contemporary music ensemble. Her teachers have included the late Aube Tzerko at UCLA and the Aspen Music Festival, and Marion Hall, Gyorgy Sebok, and Gunther Ludwig at Indiana University. She has taught at the University of Redlands, and the University of California, San Diego, and Grinnell College in Iowa, and is currently on the music faculty at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania.