What Are We to Do?: Piano/Vocal

Songs from the Middle captures the specificity of a particular time and place while speaking to universal experiences of growing up. The song cycle format gives singers a dramatic arc to inhabit, and the piano/vocal arrangement is lean enough to highlight the storytelling while remaining musically engaging for accompanying musicians and audiences alike.

Intimate and reflective, with the quality of someone sharing a memory that still matters. The music carries the warmth and specificity of lived experience, avoiding sentimentality through its contemporary pop/rock language and honest storytelling.

Singers exploring contemporary Australian songwriting and performers drawn to song cycles with literary or autobiographical depth. This works for advanced high school singers, college music students, and recital performers seeking repertoire that balances accessibility with artistic substance.

• Treat the piano part as a full musical partner, not mere accompaniment. Perfect's arrangements carry harmonic and textural detail that supports and sometimes contrasts with the vocal line.
• Honor the song's origins as a reflection on childhood memory. This calls for specificity in phrasing and emotional commitment rather than surface-level performance.
• Pay attention to dynamics and tempo markings as compositional statements about character and mood. They shape how each song sits within the larger narrative.

Program this alongside other song cycles or contemporary art songs to create a recital focused on narrative-driven repertoire. It also works as a bridge between classical vocal training and contemporary musical theater contexts, showing singers how song cycle thinking applies to modern composition.

• Interpreting contemporary pop/rock vocal writing with nuance and expression
• Collaborating with a pianist to balance vocal storytelling with instrumental detail
• Understanding how song cycles function narratively across multiple pieces
• Sight-reading digital sheet music and adapting to non-traditional notation conventions