AMERICANIST | HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Elizabeth Newkirk is looking for America on her debut album

By Jef Rouner

July 11, 2022

The American music market is three times larger than any other country's. Yet, Houston pianist Elizabeth Newkirk thinks that American music is still in search of its cultural identity. She takes listeners on a small journey of her thought process on her debut album, "The Americanist," from Bright Shiny Things.

The album contains works from the interwar period: “La Valse” by Maurice Ravel, “An American in Paris” by George Gershwin, and the three “Africa” pieces written by William Grant Still. All were original orchestral works arranged for solo piano in a way not unlike putting a finger over a garden hose until the gentle stream becomes a blast. Newkirk herself plays with a defiant style that has few lulls and defiantly demands a listener’s attention.

“The role of the soloist in classical music has really been diminished when it comes to how much individualism is expected,” she says. “It’s a very tight rope when it comes to whether you’re going to get to say something personal versus going out of bounds and not being a purist to the score. Over the past century, that’s been a theme. I wanted to choose something where I would have the responsibility to say something from my own point of view.”