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Michael Torke: Mindfulness in reverse
The composer introduces his new work LAST for solo violin and string orchestra.
In The Strad, Michael Torke introduces Last, his new work for solo violin and string orchestra: twelve pieces he describes as miniature slow movements of violin concertos, written to invite the listener to feel retrospectively.
His working title was Grief. He set it aside, he writes, because he didn’t want to tell listeners what to feel; the past was a more open frame. Writing it was mindfulness in reverse: following memory rather than anchoring in the present, to see how the past shapes the present.
Torke writes that Siwoo approached the solo part like a wordless song cycle. Siwoo and ECCO, who had recorded Torke’s UNSEEN in 2024, made the recording on 1 May 2025 at Drew University. The single “Last Friday” came out the day the article was published.
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LastMichael Torke · Siwoo Kim, violin · East Coast Chamber OrchestraSpotifyApple Music
