Composed in the early days of June of 2024, Mischief Dance was commissioned by the Portland Youth Philharmonic under director David Hattner, as an encore piece for a concert featuring pianist Llewellyn Sánchez-Werner and the string orchestra. A fast, syncopated, feisty little devil, it is propelled by a driving meter of seven in many passages. Full of unexpected twists and turns, a myriad of string techniques and jazz-inspired material, it has a concerto-like chemistry between piano and strings, and also contains solo passages for violin and cello. Harmonically it utilizes a broad pallete: triads, jazz-inspired chords, polychords, clusters and more.

A special thanks goes to Mr. Hattner for his interest and support of my music. The Portland Youth Philharmonic's performance of my Variations for Piano and Strings (also with the fabulous piano soloist Llewellyn Sánchez-Werner) was outstanding, and provided an abundance of inspiration.

Bruce Stark

about 3 minutes

Mischief Dance proved to be a sparkling gem of a piece in which all ten of Sánchez-Werner’s digits pranced all over the keyboard with an occasional palm-smash and even an elbow-smash that added to the delightful mischievousness of the music. I hope to hear Mischief Dance again someday soon.
—James Bash, Oregon Artswatch