CATHERINE FIELDS: Two Dialogues [LIVE]

Описание: I. Reminiscence (0:10)
II. Renewal (3:48)

Live performance of Two Dialogues by Catherine Fields at the 2026 North American Saxophone Alliance conference in Columbus, Ohio. [3/15/26]

KEVIN NORTON, alto saxophone
CASEY DIERLAM TSE, piano
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ABOUT THE COMPOSER:
Catherine Fields (b. 2000) is Northern Virginia based composer and pianist with a diverse body of works for wind band, symphony orchestra, voice, piano, and chamber ensemble. By way of melodic lyricism and an evocative timbral and harmonic palette, she seeks to transport her listeners into an experience. She is intrigued with the way music creates deeper communication and understanding between people, and aims to foster meaningful collaborations through her music.

Catherine has received commissions from the Akropolis Reed Quintet, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Concert Band and the Waynesboro Symphony and composed select works for the American Festival Pops Orchestra, Mason Wind Symphony, Mason Percussion Ensemble, Hub New Music, and more. Additionally, she is a contributing author to the book, The North American Wind Symphony (Inspiring a Renaissance in North American Music, Wind Band, and Instrumental Music Education), conceived and edited by Mark Camphouse and published by GIA.

A passionate educator, Catherine has taught theory, aural skills, and composition at the collegiate level, and offers private lessons to students of all ages. She is a regular guest clinician and has given clinics and masterclasses at George Mason University, Black Hawk Community College, Cape Henlopen High School and more.

Catherine holds a M.M. in Music Composition from Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where she studied with Michael Fiday. She holds a bachelors from George Mason University where she studied composition with Mark Camphouse and piano with Anna Balakerskaia.

When she is not composing, you might find her in the company of friends, on a nature hike, or singing in her church choir. She is also fascinated with the mind and brain, and holds a minor in Neuroscience.
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ABOUT THE PIECE:
The first movement of Two Dialogues, entitled “Reminiscence,” is based on an abandoned sketch from about five years ago, which was originally for solo piano. As an anxious Freshman and novice composer, I felt unable to fashion this idea into a full piece. I wrote in a melodramatic fashion on the sketch, “The process of writing this is like a dense mist over the mind… like I’m trying to make out what’s in front of me through fog, with bad eyes.” When I received this commission from New Downbeat, I thought it a good chance to revisit this sketch and give my younger self the gift of finishing it. As I played through it, I found it saturated with some of my early and formative influences– primarily the piano works of Debussy and Ravel. I tried to retain a similar character, staying true to the intentions of my younger self. That is the first movement. The second movement, “Renewal,” takes up some of the materials of the first movement, fragmented and manipulated, and puts it into the context of my voice in the present day: centered on rhythmic play, open and jazz-inspired harmonies, spontaneity and freedom. This piece is a dialogue with myself, its purpose being an integration of past and present in a personal context; a reminder that as we pass through our different iterations, the essence of who we are is unchanging.