Composed 2004-7; 30 minutes 

“I perform on the steel pan, and I write at the steel pan. My steel pan compositions come a lot from improvisation,” says Andy Akiho, the New York City–based composer and 2024–25 composer-in-residence with the Oregon Symphony. Akiho first discovered he had synesthesia while studying steel pan in Trinidad in 2001—associating specific colors with specific pitches as he played. This vivid sensory link inspired his Synesthesia Suite, originally a set of steel pan solos, each tied to one of the twelve pitches in the chromatic Western scale. The first, Aka (Red), was written in 2004 while Akiho was visiting Japan and reconnecting with his paternal roots. He continued the pattern of Japanese titles throughout the cycle. “It’s a kinesthetic synesthesia,” Akiho explains. “I get it when I play steel pan, especially when I’m improvising. In fact, when I improvise, I think more of colors than of pitches. There are splatters of color, something like a Jackson Pollock painting. I see a series of bright lights going off; some days, they’re dimmer; some days they’re stronger. But they’re pretty consistent by hue.”

Andy Akiho has been developing his Synesthesia Suite over a number of years. “It is partially scored,” says Imani Winds oboist Toyin Spellman-Diaz, “but a lot will be improvised, and the piece will change over time. Each iteration sounds completely different, and we are eager to display our version of the piece.”