Luciana Souza - Twenty-Four Musical Episodes (with first lines from poems by Emily Dickinson) (2024) [Hi-Res]

Incredible art blossoms when the stresses of time and funds do not weigh on its creator. It was with a generous grant and time provided by the pandemic that vocalist/composer Luciana Souza was able to sit down and compose a new longform piece without distraction. Along with her trio of guitarist Chico Pinheiro and bassist Scott Colley, Souza debuts her wonderful new composition, Twenty-Four Short Musical Episodes (with first lines from poems by Emily Dickinson).

Souza is well known for her incredible artistry as a vocalist, allowing her wonderful performing and teaching opportunities all over the globe. Even with her busy schedule, Souza was a regular music writer, though she had never received a music writing grant or commission until 2022, when Chamber Music America awarded her an ensemble-based grant for composition.

The vocalist knew immediately that she wanted to feature the brilliant playing of her regular collaborators, Pinheiro and Colley. Souza’s trust in their playing and the intimacy they developed through years of performing together insured that her music would be performed expertly.

As the pandemic slowed the world down, Souza would take an hour of each day to retreat to her studio and piano where she would record improvisations. During her dedicated hour of improvisation, which occurred at different times each day, Souza envisioned a day in the life of a person in a non-linear fashion. This reflected the varied activities, thoughts, imaginations, sights, and sounds people experience throughout the day. From these recordings, Souza would find elements that she liked and then transcribe them. From there, she began to compose with these elements.

The titles of the pieces came from one of Souza’s regular inspirations, Emily Dickinson. The opening lines from Dickinson’s title-less poems inspired Souza, so she decided to use twenty-four of these lines to aid in narration of life through the musical vignettes. In live performance, the trio provides a projection of the names so that listeners can use the poetic suggestion to come up with their own meanings for the pieces.

The composing was approached in a unique manner. Souza loves the voice, guitar, and bass because they have a natural decay, providing a sense of breath. Taking this into account, she approached each voice as a melodic one, eschewing the classic roles of the guitar and bass providing straight harmonic accompaniment. Souza also wrote for her voice as a wordless instrument. The vignettes that she composed focused a lot on counterpoint.

In the end, Souza found herself with twenty-one small pieces episodes which fit together in a long, suite-like piece. As many of the pieces were composed over different times of the day, she added space for three solo improvised pieces that would feature each member of the trio, providing twenty-four small episodes, one for each hour of the day.


The piece was first performed at Joe’s Pub in New York City. Soon thereafter, the trio performed it at the Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport, Massachusetts on September 23, 2023, where it was recorded.

It was a luxury for Luciana Souza to be presented with an opportunity to compose without restraint. Twenty-Four Short Musical Episodes provides a fabulous example of Souza’s creativity as a music writer, regardless of circumstance, but due to a wonderful bit of happenstance.

Luciana Souza - vocals, composer
Chico Pinheiro - guitar
Scott Colley - bass