Chain of Circumstances, for solo pianist or piano four hands (with optional solo dancer and/or interactive computer music), is one of a series of open-form compositions that have occupied my creative interest in recent years. As with the other related works, Chain of Circumstances explores aspects of recombinance, modularity, and non-linear musical structures. In this instance, the work is conceived as a series of disparate, distinctive, and relatively static musical states that provides an ever-changing sonic canvas, which the pianist(s) may alter at will. In performances that include solo dancer and/or electronics, the result is a kind of dynamic and unpredictable “feedback loop” between the various elements.

Chain of Circumstances was supported by a grant from Texas Woman’s University, and composed in February-March 2020 for pianist Richard Shuster and dancer/choreographer Jordan Fuchs, who first performed the work on 10 September 2021. The video version of the work was premiered at the University of North Texas Sonic Murals Festival on 7 November 2020.