Joni Greene (b. 1981) is an American composer based in Austin, Texas. She has written a wide variety of music for a range of ensembles, from bands and orchestras to chamber groups and operas. Trained at Indiana University (BM and MM degrees), her principal teachers included Michael Gandolfi, Sven-David Sandstrom, Kevin Puts, Don Freund, David Dzubay, Claude Baker, and Rafael Hernandez. Her music has been performed extensively, and has won her several awards, notably in the Frank Ticheli Composition Contest. Greene emphasizes instrumental color and its transitions in her wind band music, with melodies and textures often passed between sections. Some of this approach emerges naturally from her synesthesia. Learn more about her and her music at her website, the Wind Repertory Project, and the Pytheas Center for Contemporary Music. Also, check her out on the One Track podcast.
Greene wrote Splitting Light in 2026 for a consortium of 30 bands led by Andy Pease (me again!) and the Hartwick College Wind Ensemble, for a special concert at Carnegie Hall. Greene provides detailed program notes (links added by me):
As a child, I loved looking through my father’s telescope. I remember being in awe of the Milky Way—which to me looked more like a swirl of white foam than a chocolate bar. My love of the cosmos took shape through experiences with my dad, whether watching late-night meteor showers or rewatching Carl Sagan’s Cosmos series. Since his passing in 2021, I’ve found connection to him through composing works inspired by astrophysics.
Splitting Light is the fourth in a series of works inspired by Earth’s telescopes. High in the Chilean Andes, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is poised to transform how we see the universe. Its massive camera will photograph the entire sky every few nights, creating a time-lapse record of cosmic change—capturing everything from exploding stars to distant galaxies. At the heart of its mission is dark matter, an invisible substance thought to make up most of the universe. Though it cannot be seen, its presence is revealed through gravity and subtly bending light in a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing. I imagine Splitting Light as an exploration of light and the gravity surrounding it. The work opens with bright percussion and accented entrances that drive the music forward over pulsing rays of light. A sense of humanity emerges as the music breathes through carefully paced dynamic fades and pauses. While dark matter is often represented in the bass of the ensemble, it also appears through harmonic resolution, forte dynamics, large chords, and pointed tutti entrances.
A defining characteristic of my music is the layering of instrumental color. Arranged by tessitura, these strands often fall into one another, creating an overall soundscape rather than a strict hierarchy of melody and harmony. As lines shift between foreground and background, instruments emerge from the texture. In this way, Splitting Light reflects human connection, often through musical dialogue between instruments. Solos emerge momentarily, adding emotional weight. Specific examples include when an alto saxophone rises above fluttering percussion, or when solo oboe, clarinet, and baritone saxophone soar above the deep resonance of bassoon, tuba, and double bass.
After an arrival of towering chords forms a late climax, haunting lyrical fragments emerge, adding a sense of longing and introspection as the music fades into the unknown.
Splitting Light was premiered by the Hartwick College Wind Ensemble, conducted by Dr. Andrew Pease, at Carnegie Hall on March 23rd, 2026.
Here is the PRE-premiere performance by the Hartwick Wind Ensemble on March 10, 2026:
See more about Splitting Light at Joni Greene’s website, which includes an introductory video and a perusal score, and the Wind Repertory Project.