Earthbound and Skyward was written while I was deep in the trenches of the final year of my Master’s Degree in violin performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. 

On a personal level it represented a milestone for me as a composer - it was the first piece that I had written for someone else (besides myself) to play, and the first time I got to sit in the audience at a concert of my own music. It was a great feeling to have just performed some of the most wonderful music in the violin repertoire, and then get to sit back and hear my own piece performed on the piano!

On an artistic level my goal was to contrast a feeling of earthly suffering and stress with the rare feeling of celestial release and serenity.