Listen to Nashville composer Cristina Spinei's 'Spiral,' commissioned by YourClassical

American Public Media, which runs YourClassical, recognizes the need to expand the classical music canon by adding the work of living composers to our airwaves and music streams. As part of a project to record more music by composers of color and women, we recently commissioned Nashville composer Cristina Spinei to write Spiral, a trio for violin, cello and piano.

Spinei has been a fixture in the Nashville music community since 2014. In recent years, her music has spread across the country with commissions by the likes of the New York Choreographic Institute, the Pacific Northwest Ballet and others. Most recently, Spinei was commissioned by the Pacific Northwest Ballet for their 2022 Worlds to Come production. The performance was the final production of their 50th Anniversary Season. The East Nashvillian magazine praises her “adventuresome imagination,” but Spinei describes her style as “minimalish.”

She explains the creation of Spiral:

Her sound evokes the influence of past eras. She says she frequently listens to Antonio Vivaldi’s music if she ever feels stuck, while simultaneously showing her forward-thinking ideas of operalike melodies and the rhythms of Latin music.

From the opening notes of her new trio, listeners will get the sensation of movement and might even start envisioning dance steps.

“I always want there to be some kind of movement through the music in the audience,” she says, “whether you’re tapping your foot, or nodding your head, or swaying — something.”

Listen to Spiral using the player above — performed by pianist Alessandra Volpi-Jenson, violinist Alicia Enstrom and cellist Kaitlyn Raitz.

Spinei's 'Spiral' - Performers

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Video credits

Editing: Scott Blankenship
Stock footage: Pavel Danilyuk/Pexels.com