Tuesday, October 28
7:00 PM
Kopleff Recital Hall
smol duo
Amy O’Dell, piano/toy pianos
Paul Stevens, percussion
Persistence (2025)
Ahmad Duncan | B. 2003 | Current GSU Student
Premiere
All I Have Left is Anxiety (2025)
Eli Brogdon | B. 2002 | Current GSU Student
Premiere
All I Have Left is Anxiety is written for vibraphone and piano. I wrote this piece to emulate a tragedy that has no upsides. Trying to put a positive spin on terrible events prevents us from trying to tackle the real impact tragedy has on us. Sometimes there are no silver linings.
Today Was a Brimming Glass
Connor Elias Way | B. 1962 | GSU Alumnus
Georgia Premiere
The title of this piece comes from the opening line of Pablo Neruda’s poem The Eighth of September. I wanted to play with a kind of surface tension in the music through phrases that well up, recede, and well up again to the point of overflow. The final “brimming over” happens near the end when a subdued fury gives way to something warmer, spreading across the full range of the piano.
10 Short Pieces for Solo Vibraphone
Olivia Kieffer | B. 1980 | GSU Alumnus
I. peace be with you
I. peace be with you
II. not 10 minutes of a giant gong, but 1 minute of the tiniest gongs
III. Skywalker's childhood music box
V. having a smoke in the sunshine before the bar opens
VIII. the future; where humans can live for 100's of years
"10 Short Pieces for Solo Vibraphone" is a book of fun, uniquely challenging music that is particularly well suited for a late high school - early college level percussionist. With this volume, I hope to present modern music that fills the gap between intermediate and difficult 4-mallet keyboard percussion music, and that is both accessible to audiences and rewarding to the performer. The pieces are arranged in order of potential difficulty, starting with the simplest and moving onward. The pieces are also catalogued according to physical movement and tempo, with suggested mallet choices.
These pieces may be performed in any order and in any number. Pedalings, articulations, (in certain cases, dynamics), and mallets are left open to the performer; but medium and fast tempos should never drag. creative experimentation is encouraged!"
blue mind (2025)
Nickitas Demos | B. 1962
Premiere
This brief single-movement composition is all about water. The title, blue mind, is taken from the best-selling book of the same name by marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols and published in 2014. In his book, Nichols analyzes studies that suggest living or simply being near bodies of water can have powerful psychological and even physiological effects on a person. While I confess to having not read the book, I was taken by its title and whole heartedly agree with its thesis on a personal level. I have always loved being close to the water. While I prefer the grandeur of the ocean, I am still very content when even close to a lake, river, a running stream, or even a swimming pool. The piece does not have a specific program attached to it. However, it does serve as a meditation on the different forms of water. The music bubbles and gently churns at times like a peaceful brook while at other times, it is still as daybreak on a calm lake. There are also instances where the music takes on the character of majestic waves falling upon a beautiful beach and even some intense moments representing the great power of water and its potential for harm. In an interview about his book, Nichols notes, “as humans, we're naturally drawn to blue space…” It is my sincere hope that this composition transports the listener in some small way to that beautiful blue space and allows for the acquisition, if only for a few minutes, of a blue mind.
smol duo
smol duo is comprised of two members of smol ensemble—a consort of toy pianists and percussionists with a particular interest in the curiosities and delights of new music. Established in 2019, smol ensemble made their debut at the 2019 SoundNow Festival, Atlanta's Contemporary Music Festival. Comprised of Justin Greene, Olivia Kieffer, Amy O'Dell, Monica Pearce, and Paul Stevens, the ensemble focuses on works that explore playful timbral sonorities, open endedness, improvisatory elements, and everything toy piano-related. In addition to regularly performing compositions by each of the five ensemble members, smol ensemble has commissioned works by Nickitas Demos (GA), Michael Kurth (GA), Stefanie Lubkowski (MA), and Tony Marasco (MI).
Amy O’Dell
Amy O’Dell plays piano, toy piano, and keytar with various groups in the Atlanta music scene. She currently performs with smol ensemble, Alya Ensemble, as well as working as Collaborative Pianist at Georgia State University. Her passionate and focused performances have brought to life new works by composers from the U.S. and Europe, a number of which are featured on her 2015 solo album, Find Your Inner Child. Amy has performed throughout the U.S., Europe, and China, and loves teaching students of all ages in her home studio. Amy earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Piano Performance from Georgia State University. A newly commissioned solo project titled Reimaginings featuring piano solos by composers Justin Greene, Olivia Kieffer, Adam Scott Neal, Monica Pearce, and Paul Stevens will be premiered in the Fall of 2026.
Paul Stevens
Despite his classical music background, Paul Guy Stevens remains versatile, moving fluidly between the artistic and the popular. As a percussionist, pianist, drummer, technologist and collaborative musician, he has given concerts throughout the United States, Europe, and South America, and his work as a composer for dance and film has been presented on five continents. Current projects include solo electronic venture VarietyStomp, folk trio Bizner, alt-pop duo Moloq, the Atlanta Improvisers Orchestra, toy piano and percussion quintet Smol Ensemble, and music for dance and theater at Kennesaw State University.