SKOAL! for Solo Percussion（2017）

This piece was composed to celebrate the seventieth birthday of the percussionist Atsushi Sugahara. I gladly accepted his request to write an entertaining piece to be performed at a recital he was to give in 2017.
One generally thinks of materials such as stone， wood and bone when imagining the materials that humankind in its earliest stages must have used to create sounds from physical objects. But the world of percussion instruments is by no means restricted to hitting objects and includes sounds created by means of other actions such as scraping， resonating， blowing and throwing. My own interest in sound production and in the exploration of sounds generated by percussion instruments in such ways is continuing to expand. The instruments involved may include both finely tuned keyboard percussion instruments as well
as a 27-centimetre stainless steel bowl of the type one uses to knead dough in the kitchen.
I have known Atsushi Sugahara for half a century， during which time I have composed several percussion pieces employing a variety of toys. These pieces may well be entertaining for listeners to see and hear， but they are challenging for the performer.