Liberation’s Suite

Program Notes From The Composer

Liberation’s Suite was written as a testament to the work, time, love, and sweat equity that went into my ACF Residency and composing The SOVEREIGN Suite. This music reflects the feelings and emotions that I felt throughout the process of collaborating with multiple people and organizations, the ups and downs, and the beauty of accomplishing the goal of this huge endeavor.

In the first movement, I tried to capture how honored, how optimistic I felt about creating art with people that I love and respect. In the swing of this piece lives the heartbeat; it’s lively, it’s happy, it’s flowing.

The second movement is polyrhythmic and complex with so many moving parts. I thought about what it took to put 25 people together in a room to rehearse; the nervousness, the newness of the piece, the excitement of it all!

The third movement is reflective of my gratitude, and my more recent thoughts and feelings, looking back on everything as I finish up this ACF Residency. This music speaks to how proud I am of myself and my collaborators who have worked alongside me, the lessons I’ve learned along the way, and it speaks to the culmination of this Residency. ASÉ O!

String Quartet

PaviElle French is an Emmy Award-winning interdisciplinary artist/educator who is from Rondo, a historically Black neighborhood in St. Paul, Minnesota. She is a Jerome Hill Artist Fellow (2021–2023); a McKnight Artist Fellow (2020); and a Sage Award for Dance and Choreography recipient (2016). PaviElle is known for such works as A Requiem for Zula (2018), written in celebration of her mother’s life; Sands of Time (2021), with The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra (commissioned by The Sands Family); a self-produced album called SOVEREIGN (2020); The SOVEREIGN Suite (2022) commissioned by The Schubert Club in connection with PaviElle’s Artist-in-Residence with American Composers Forum (2022–2024); and has most recently released The SOVEREIGN Suite Video flmed by Peter Myers and Soundtrack (2023). Along with her ACF Residency and Jerome Artist Fellowship, PaviElle is building a fexible curriculum based on her work through her SOVEREIGN Series. For more information, please visit www.paviellefrench.com.

Liberation's Suite was premiered at the 2023 Minnesota Music Educators Association Midwinter Convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The string quartet comprised of students from Wayzata High School, under the direction of Mark Gitch and Don Krubsack.