The Sea of Tranquility, by Kathleen Feenstra

Composer, arranger, pianist and piano teacher, Kathleen Feenstra shares some background & the process behind this month's featured piece.

The piece I’d love to highlight is The Sea of Tranquility. It will be included in my upcoming book Flights of Fancy, which is part of my new Flight Path Series for piano. The last book in the series, Whispers of Wonder, is already available online, and Flights of Fancy and Soaring Wings are currently in the works and will be published soon.

The Sea of Tranquility began as a solo piano piece written for elementary students, with the goal of creating something reflective, atmospheric, and emotionally expansive within a technically accessible framework. I was later approached by my colleague Clinton Denoni, who invited me to orchestrate the piece so that a young pianist could be featured as a soloist in his concert Piano Extravaganza with the Chilliwack Symphony Orchestra.

That process became one of the most rewarding parts of composing this work. I loved the challenge of taking a Level 2 piano piece and reimagining it for orchestra — finding ways to surround a simple, lyrical piano line with rich orchestral colour, while still allowing the young soloist to shine on stage alongside much more advanced repertoire.

One of the main challenges was ensuring the piece looked and felt “spectacular” in a concert setting. I chose The Sea of Tranquility specifically because of its hand-over-hand crossovers, which create a visually engaging performance. At the same time, the piece’s constantly shifting meter posed a real challenge for a six-year-old pianist, as did pedaling — especially when the performer’s feet barely reach the floor and the upper body must move side to side to manage the crossovers!

The piece was performed on May 17, 2024 at the Hub Theatre in the Chilliwack Cultural Centre as part of Piano Extravaganza, featuring the Chilliwack Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Music Director and Conductor Paula DeWit. The soloist was Amber Au, the youngest performer in the concert. Amber’s performance was a wonderful success, and I hope the experience inspired her to continue exploring larger works for piano and orchestra in the future — she is a very promising young pianist.