Tiny Forests (2021)

Tiny Forests is inspired by the urban planning concept of breaking up a city's concrete-and-glass jungle with plots of miniature forests. While small in scale, they still adhere to the principles of how forests form and grow: a nourishing layer of soil, above which lies (in ascending order) the shrub, sub-tree, tree, and canopy layers.

Musically, the piece presents three tiny forests interacting within a city environment, and charts their growth as they extend root networks, to connect with each other, and eventually remake their urban contexts into an ideal "garden city."

[Tiny Forests is a Jury Prize winner in the Sydney International Piano Competition's "Composing the Future" initiative, generously supported by Creative Partnerships Australia; the work is also a part of James Palmer's “What is a Prelude?” project]

Performance history:

10/2024: Houston, TX
Han Sol Jeong, piano

7/2023: Sydney, Australia
Andrea Molteni,
Dennis Linnik,
Jun Lin Wu,
Pedro López Salas,
Shunta Morimoto,
Xuehong Chen,
Yuanfan Yao,
competing in the Sydney International Piano Competition

6/2023: Beijing, China
Xuehong Chen, piano

6/2023: Changsha, China
Andrea Molteni, piano

2/2023: Bloomington, IN
Lyndon Ji, piano

10/2022: Bathurst, Australia
Tamara-Anna Cislowska, piano

9/2022: Houston, TX
James Palmer, piano