A review from The Classical List as part of Playground Ensemble’s concert: “The music took off with flutist Sonya Yeager-Meeks guiding the way. The singing bowl, while probably not the most difficult of instruments, did prove to have a learning curve for the performers. However, the structure of the piece made room for this through leaving some of the prompts needing more confidence to the end. The sonic result was that of a gradual bringing together of disparate sounds into a state of unification as performers came to terms with their instruments while learning on the fly.
Non-performing members of the audience standing around could be seen reacting spontaneously to the music - not quite in dance, but in sympathetic movement when the bowls and flute sounds, with their similar timbres, produced undulating waves of sound because of the similar but not identical pitches.”

Vessels (2022)

flute/bass flute, and six Tibetan singing bowls

Commissioned by Cobus du Toit, flute

A chamber work for flute/bass flute and singing bowls, commissioned and premiered by flutist and educator Cobus du Toit. This work incorporates improvisation and collaboration from the singing bowl players, who (guided by the flutist) play graphic scores (shapes and basic instructions) throughout the piece--no musical training required. The piece ultimately hopes to open up access to 'classical' music performance while also creating a space for listening, reflection, responding, and timbre.

Special thanks to the University of Missouri School of Music for the video and audio footage.

To purchase the PDF scores for the work, click below!