Galina Ustvolskaya

Galina Ustvolskaya (1919–2006), a Russian composer and student of Shostakovich, carved out a voice so singular that even her teacher called her music “a force of nature.” Often stark, uncompromising, and deeply spiritual, her works are unforgettable for their intensity and raw honesty.

Ustvolskaya rejected trends, fashions, and even the influence of her own teacher, forging a style of absolute conviction.

Her music is direct and searing, built from pounding rhythms, dense clusters, and unrelenting energy. It’s not easy listening, but it is unforgettable.

Her piano sonatas are the heart of her output. They are works of enormous physical and emotional challenge, often sparse yet overwhelming in power.

For pianists, performing Ustvolskaya means entering a world of complete intensity, where every note is charged with meaning.

Though long underappreciated, her works have now been embraced internationally. Pianists, ensembles, and listeners continue to rediscover her uncompromising vision, a reminder that music can be brutally honest and yet profoundly moving.

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Emma Lou Diemer

Emma Lou Diemer (1927-2024, USA) Emma Lou Diemer was a composer whose music radiates joy, rhythm, and curiosity. She grew up in Kansas City, studied at Yale and Eastman, and built a long career writing for orchestra, choir, organ, electronic instruments but the piano was always very close to her heart. Diemer’s music doesn’t try to sound like anyone else’s. It’s clear, bold, and often playful, moving easily between tonal lyricism and modernism. Tocatta (1979) - This piece bursts with rhythmic drive and spark. Written for the American Guild of Organists but later arranged for piano, it’s full of motoric energy and bright harmonies that recall both Bach and jazz. For the pianist, it’s a workout in control and endurance fast patterns that need clarity, but also a sense of fun. Her Piano Sonata No. 3 (2000) is full of energy, color, and personality, music that feels alive under the hands. The first movement ( Serenade/toccata) brings b right rhythms and lively gestures ...

Žibuoklė Martinaitytė

Žibuoklė Martinaitytė (b. 1973, Lithuania/USA) Lithuanian-born and now based in New York, Žibuoklė Martinaitytė is a composer whose music blends striking emotional depth with refined sonic architecture. Martinaitytė’s music often revolves around themes of beauty, memory, and perception. She writes with an emphasis on texture, time, and transformation, rather than simply on virtuosic display. According to her publisher, her works “explore the tensions and longings of identity and place.” Flashes of Illuminations (2016) – A solo piano piece that lasts about 6′30″ and explores shimmering textures, rapid figuration and reflections of light. Heights and Depths of Love (2019) This work reveals Martinaitytė’s more emotional side. Harmonic clusters and sustained tones blur into tenderness; bursts of motion rise like breathless confessions. The piece never settles. It’s music of vulnerability and courage, requiring the pianist to shape color and energy rather than rel...

Sonia Megías

Born in Almansa, Spain in 1982, Sonia Megías is a composer, singer, and multidisciplinary artist whose imagination refuses to be boxed in. She calls her expanded notations partituras raras (“strange scores”), and they can take many form, video-scores, tactile scores, edible scores, even skirt-scores. For Megías, a score is not just a set of instructions, but an artwork in itself, a playful and ritualistic path toward sound. Her projects often focus on community and transformation. Megías has written a fascinating body of piano works, each with its own personality. Two highlights stand out: SoLnatina- Her playful twist on the sonatina form. It’s witty, light, and self-aware, bending classical expectations while keeping its charm. Pianists will find it both humorous and thought-provoking, as if the piece is smiling at tradition while inventing its own rules. Suite de Alejandría- Written for pianist-singer , this suite dissolves the boundary between performer and narrator. Th...

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