The Year of Silence

Featuring

Dashon Burton
Teddy Abrams
Jeffrey Kahane
Louisville Orchestra
Christopher Cerrone
Andrew Norman

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Both works on the album, Andrew Norman's Split and Christopher Cerrone's The Year of Silence, investigate the frenetic nature of 21st-century life and offer meditative answers to contemporary challenges.

Album & Artwork

The album features two modern masterpieces: Andrew Norman's piano concerto Split and Christopher Cerrone's The Year of Silence.

Compositional Technique

Andrew Norman's Split, written in 2015, musically portrays the current media landscape, resembling a TikTok scrolling experience with the solo pianist pulled in many directions by percussive cues.

Composition History

Christopher Cerrone's The Year of Silence was inspired by Kevin Brockmeier's short story of the same name, which the composer rediscovered during the early, uncertain part of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Compositional Technique

Christopher Cerrone's The Year of Silence uses a prepared piano, scratching strings, and brass players blowing air through instruments to evoke a construction site, and percussion playing freely to suggest Morse code.

Compositional Technique

For The Year of Silence, Christopher Cerrone used a 'singing narrator' to include a maximum amount of text from the short story, rather than making draconian cuts for a song cycle.

Recording & Production

The album was recorded in Whitney Hall at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts in Louisville, KY, with The Year of Silence recorded in May 2023 and Split in May 2025.