(Boosey & Hawkes Chamber Music). The composer states: Acequia Madre demonstrates an approach which was somewhat new to the style of my musical expression at the time of its composition 2012 : structuring a work with the focus on its melodic aspects. I drew inspiration from other creative artists through one of my ‘rituals’: I surrounded myself with the scores of composers who, for one reason or another, were on my mind at the time, like Iannis Xenakis, Alban Berg’s ‘Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano,’ and ‘Contrasts for violin, clarinet and piano’ by Bela Bartok, plus Schubert’s haunting final ‘String Quartet No. 15.’ Conquering technical difficulties is something I find particularly rewarding when playing acoustic instruments: fully aware that today’s electronics can triumph over a composer’s most demanding technical challenges, I love the idea of performers encountering their instruments with virtuosity … doing something that seems to defy physical boundaries.