Mosquito Touch is a work for 14 course theorbo, an instrument I have been fascinated with since I first saw it's unusual configuration.
My friend Jonathan Stuchbery introduced me to the instrument in more detail during our 2018 tour of Lost Islands with the Cygnus Trio. I learned that the unusual configuration of the instrument doesn't stop at the surface - the re-entrant tuning allows beautiful resonance on close intervals on the top for strings. I began writing this piece on a small island in the St. Lawrence, with Jonathan's theorbo in hand. I became fascinated by the physicality of the instrument - finding different ways to interact and coax sound from the strings. Mosquito Touch's title might have come from the many bugs we encountered on our Ontario tour, and might have come from my relationship with my own instrument; one that felt rather parasitic at the time.Mosquito Touch was premiered as a recording over livestream in September 2020. The premiere was a lovely collaboration between Jonathan, Artist Alex McLeod, and I.
You can listen to the recording made by Jonathan, and see the incredible accompanying animation by Alex here: