Some of my earliest and most profound experiences with classical music came through Beethoven’s piano sonatas. As a teenager, I could not get enough of the Moonlight and Pathétique sonatas — listening to them, learning them, and discovering for the first time the large musical world between the notes and across movements — often inspiring me to learn to play music well ahead of my abilities. In 2025, I took my first step into the sonata tradition as a composer when I wrote my first sonata, Long Roads, for two guitars.

Turns out sonatas are great fun to write! As a genre, they lend themselves well to the creation of intimate, ambitious and incredibly flexible music — so I’ve decided I’d like to write more! Lots more, and I’d like for you to be a part of it!

Introducing “The Sonata Project,” a long-term creative initiative to compose a series of new, contemporary sonatas for all the core recital instruments over the coming years. The goal is to build a substantial body of new works, pieces large enough to anchor a program, but with movements small enough that there are different points of entry for flexible performance, programming and broadcast. And of course, something performers can grow with — a movement younger and emerging musicians can perform now, and others they can come back to as they grow into experienced artists.

I would like to invite you to be a part of helping create my first piano sonata as a “co-commissioner,” the first in this series of works. Each new instalment will open the door to different instruments, connecting performers, cities, and audiences, and I can think of no more fitting instrument to start with than where it all began — for me at least — the piano!

If you enjoy the work I create, think I should continue to make more, and would like to play a part in creating a brighter, more joyful, and hopeful society through the creation of art, please consider donating.

To acknowledge your contribution, it would be my privilege to inscribe your name in the front matter of the score among the supporters and commissioners of the work, both to recognise your contribution and to ensure that anyone who picks up or performs this work hereafter is reminded that it was born of and carries with it the goodwill and generosity of an entire community of individuals.

If you’re a performer, presenter, or concert programmer interested in collaborating on this instalment or a future sonata, I’d love to hear your ideas!

Thank you for being a part of making the music.

Let’s get to work!