"A return to the piano for this collection of compositions that focuses on the physics of multiple strings at high tension. The title, Piano Forte, of course refers to the measures of soft and loud but also a nod to the predecessor of the modern piano, un cimbalo di cipresso di piano e forte invented in the late 18th century by Bartolomeo Cristofori of Padua, a noted builder of harpsichords. Later shortened to pianoforte and finally piano, this revolutionary instrument allowed control of volume and attack with pedals as well as an unparalleled range.

My own complex history with the piano began with childhood lessons leading to my first gig ever, performing Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody Nr. 2 at the age of seven at Carnegie Recital Hall as part of a recital of the students of Joan Mayer, a strict and humorless pedagogue. Though I loved the music and the sound of the piano, I found the lessons and practice discipline quite disturbing and developed asthma that nearly killed me. After a hospital stay, the piano was no longer in my life until I found my way back to it in 1985 (as chronicled in my book IrRational Music and in the notes to the album K!L!A!V!) This latter record included my performance on piano of the composition Mapping, more sonic than pianistic. The piano then played a growing role in such compositions for orchestra as Calling and On Corlear's Hook as well as the solo piece Oligosono, written for the virtuoso Jenny Lin with a language based on physics, genetics, and the acoustics of resonance. The recent offer of the use of their wonderful Steinway B piano by Alanna Heiss and Fred Sherman created the substrate on which these pieces were realized inspired by the poetics of physics and the tactility of sound."-zOaR