For solo piano, (2025), duration: 1’30”

There are paths in outer Kangaroo Valley that I would often walk through. If the time of day was right, the escarpment would glow of amber, illuminating the burned trees on the ridge line. Since 2020, much of the land has been going through a process of quiet regeneration. Although now the damage is almost invisible, there are still small signs of what was. I frequent those paths less often now, but I walk through them when I can. This work was written quickly, in one night and lots of the harmonic language goes back to my first musical influences – Bill Evans in particular. As well as this, I was feeling the nostalgia of returning to a place that holds so many complicated memories. It was a strange feeling – like running into an old friend, and partway into the conversation, you realise you in fact have nothing in common anymore, and you don’t even know how to meaningful talk to this person. The piece simultaneously looks back to what was, and forward to what may be. Written for the World Piano Teacher’s Association Australia (WPTA) Inaugural International Piano Competition.