Hudson
my next release
Dear friends,
On April 8, 2026, I will be releasing a musical project that has been in my life for about a decade. It’s called Hudson, and some of you (who have been following my work for that long) may remember that I performed a piece with the same name on April 8, 2016, during the final year of my undergrad program. In 2020, I re-arranged that piece for a smaller ensemble and edited the composition a bit. That version was performed on the inaugural season of the Lift Series at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall (which is now in its sixth season). Instead of trying to perform the piece elsewhere, as performances were on hold, we recorded the new version of the piece one instrument at a time over a period of several months. The culmination of that recording process is what is coming out now, a decade to the day of the original version’s premiere.
A great many wonderful people were involved in the original and the new version, whom I will list towards the end of this newsletter. But first I wanted to share an excerpt from my 2016 program note for the piece, which still holds true:
Hudson is a culmination of three things: my love of the Hudson River, which I grew up near and spent a lot of time in and around; my love of and dedication to music performance and composition; and, lastly, my passion for photography and film. The musical aspect of Hudson draws influence from my favorite classical and nonclassical composers, ranging from Steve Reich to Sufjan Stevens to Sigur Rós. I am drawn to the way each can create an expansive feeling while still maintaining a strong sense of intimacy in the music. The unusual ensemble reflects this range of stylistic influences, including a string section representative of an orchestra, horns reminiscent of a jazz ensemble, and a drummer well versed in rock music.
Hudson will be out on Bandcamp and streaming on April 8. You can pre-order it on Bandcamp now.
Cheers,
Sam
Hudson Credits
2016 performance:
Sam Torres, conductor
Christof Knoche, bass clarinet
Tayla Nebesky, trumpet & accordion
Andrew Karboski, trombone
Max Yassky, drums
Sophia Subbayya Vastek, piano
Olli Hirvonen, electric guitar
Alison Comerford, violin
Carrie Frey, viola
Isidora Nojkovic, cello
Sam Zagnit, double bass
2020 Performance and Recording:
Mitsuko Suzuki, violin
Jessica Bowen, violin
Raquel Velho (concert)/Laura Melnicoff (recording), cello
Julia Alsarraf, electric guitar
Sophia Subbayya Vastek, piano & producer
Sam Torres, electric bass, electric guitar, producer, recording, mixing, and mastering engineer
Congratulations, Sam! I remember the 2016 performance and am very much looking forward to your release!