Two Andean Portraits (2024)

Movements
I. Introducción: Zampoñas
II. Adagio del Altiplano

Composer note
Two Andean Portraits, for solo piano, was written for the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition (2024). The first movement, Introducción: Zampoñas, is inspired by the quintessential instrument of the South American Andes, the panpipe. The movement is simple in form but technically tricky to enact a smooth and legato line in the right hand of parallel fifths combined with a light and a wide-roaming left hand of delicate black note cluster grace notes. The second movement, Adagio del Altiplano, is inspired by the evocative landscape of the Andean highlands. This movement requires a sensitive shaping and pacing of phrases to convey its mystery, plus an imaginative pedal and fleet fingers in the fast sections.

— Gabriela Lena Frank (2024)