Point Reyes from Chimney Rock (2014)

Orchestra (piccolo, flute, 2 oboes, clarinet in Bb, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, 3 percussion, harp, strings). 7 mins.

Commissioned by the New York University Symphony. An orchestral tone poem inspired by the coastal landscape of the San Francisco Bay Area where I was born and raised, this piece takes its title from a woodblock print by contemporary artist Tom Killion. Continue reading “Point Reyes from Chimney Rock (2014)”

Horizon (2013)

Cello. 7 1/2 mins.

Live performance by Matthew Smith, cello of Juventas New Music Ensemble:

Short film featuring Callie Lyons, dancer, and Fjóla Evans, cello:

Perusal Score

View perusal score.

Performance score available for purchase. Please direct inquiries to Nell Shaw Cohen at nell@nellshawcohen.com.

Program Note

Horizon was composed in 2013 for the occasion of Parrish Art Museum’s one-year anniversary in its new location in Water Mill, NY.  This work celebrates and reflects the aesthetic quality of the museum’s building and the surrounding landscape of the East End of Long Island, , using negative space in music to reflect the vastness of a flat horizon line.

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Performance History
  • Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill NY. Karlos Rodriguez, cello: 11/09/13. Richard Vaudrey, cello: 11/10/13.
  • Recorded on-site in public parks by Fjola Evans for short dance film. New York NY, February 2014.
  • Louise King, cello. Cello Dreaming Australian tour: The Cooroora Institute, Cooroy (9/09/16), Horizon Festival at University Sunshine Coast Art Gallery in Sippy Downs (9/10/16), and Lift Gallery in Maleny (9/11/16).
  • The Clark Art Institute, Juventas New Music Ensemble, Matthew Smith, cello, Williamstown, MA, 7/16/23.
  • ASTA National Conference, Mira Frisch, cello; Kentucky International Convention Center, Louisville, KY, 3/21/24.

Sextet (2012)

Oboe, bassoon, trumpet, harpsichord, violin, and viola. 8 1/2 mins.


A work for mixed chamber ensemble inspired by the textures and sound world of Baroque music and the rhythms of Progressive Rock. Continue reading “Sextet (2012)”