Selected Works

The works below display a range of Liam's creative projects.
​An exploration of the of ways change expresses itself in our lives and in the world, Endings, Beginnings is home to a plethora of gestures, recurring patterns, melodies and leitmotifs, all tied together by a single idea and a single story, which subtly morphs and twists throughout its 40-minute duration.
Read more and listen here.
​You are standing on a hilltop staring out at a brilliant evening sky, reflecting on your past, remembering moments that you once took for granted, wondering what the future will hold, and asking yourself what it really means to be human, what it means to be a part of the world. Perhaps, in the back of your mind, you hear a melody.
​Read more and listen here.
It's a terrifying fact: 1.5 million children were killed during the Holocaust. Some children, imprisoned in Terezin concentration camp, secretly wrote poetry. Pavel Friedman wrote I Never Saw Another Butterfly in 1942. As part of the Silent Voices Project, I composed The Butterfly in response to his haunting poem. 
Read more and listen here.
How do we make the best of a terrible situation? This is what I asked myself as I set out to create Fanfare for Found Objects.​ In the absence of live performances during the pandemic, I made my own  instruments - glasses, dishes, trash cans, even power tools - and wrote a piece entirely for household objects. 
Read more and listen here.
“With any luck, we’ll be fine,” were the words uttered by an orthopedic surgeon after he’d operated on my wrist, which I’d broken in a biking accident. Since then, these words have become an oft-repeated phrase by my family and friends, used to describe a multitude of situations that will likely work out, but might just go terribly wrong.
​Read more and listen here.
For one week in April 2020, I sat on a log in the in the middle of the woods for three hours a day. The forest inspired an age-old sense of awe in me. Each time I took my position, I would breathe a deep sigh of relief.  Forest Melodies, performed here by flutist Mimi Stillman, is the product of my outdoor observations there.
Read more and listen here.


​Complete Works

Orchestra and Large Ensemble

Lifted From Oblivion for orchestra, 7 minutes, 2022
​Endings, Beginnings for orchestra, 41 minutes, 2021
With Any Luck We'll Be Fine for orchestra, 6 minutes, 2021
 The Optimist's Fanfare for orchestra, 6 minutes, 2020
Fanfare for Found Objects for found objects, 5 minutes 2020
Fanfare to Uncertain Times for orchestra, 5 minutes, 2020
Concerto for piano and orchestra, 22 minutes 2019
Cello Choir for cello ensemble, 6 minutes, 2018


​Chamber

Imperfect Symmetry for string trio, flute and piano, 11 minutes, 2022
Until Then for flute and cello, 10 minutes, 2022
Overlooking for piano and percussion, 25 minutes, 2022
Positive Feedback Loop, 6 minutes, 2021
Strong Coffee for Pierrot ensemble, 7 minutes, 2021 
 Song of the Wind for percussion quartet, 16 minutes, 2021
Stages of Grief for woodwind quartet, 11 minutes, 2021 
Mosaics for piano, cello and clarinet, 8 minutes, 2019
In Deepest Night for string quartet, piano and percussion, 10 minutes, 2019
St. John Quartet for string quartet, 4 minutes, 2018
The Butterfly for string quartet, 4 minutes, 2016
Duet for two cellos, 3 minutes, 2016


​Solo

Vast Expanse, suite for solo cello, 30 minutes, 2021
 The Life Tree  for solo vibraphone, 7 minutes, 2021
Solace for solo piano, 7 minutes, 2021
Inside Joke for solo piano, 3 minutes, 2021
Nachtmusik for solo piano, 10 minutes, 2020
Quarantine Whispers for solo violin, 4 minutes, 2020
 Forest Melodies for solo flute, 7 minutes, 2020
 Etudes for piano, 7 minutes, 2018
Sonata for piano, 9 minutes, 2018


Choral

Family Blessing for SSAATTBB choir, 5 minutes, 2020
Hope is the Thing With Feathers for SATB choir, text by Emily Dickinson, 3 minutes, 2020


​Vocal

This Very Here for Soprano and Piano, in progress, 2021
Untitled Work for solo voice, in progress, 2021
To view more projects, view Liam Cummins Music on Youtube.