https://youtu.be/hc3M_9R6C8w

Bridge

A composition for solo piano by Paul G. McCurdy

Developed through the 2025 Summer Composing Mentorship

Mentored by Soheil Shirangi

Piano:Qin Lan Zhang

Published by Zang Records in August 2026

Bridge is a solo piano work inspired by the hum that emerged from the Golden Gate

Bridge during a 2020 retrofitting project connected to the installation of its Physical

Suicide Deterrent System. Like the bridge’s resonance, which the composer could

frequently hear from his former apartment in San Francisco, the music centers around

the pitch A, heard prominently at both opening and close. Glissandi and tremolos evoke

the bridge’s soaring cables and strong towers, while interwoven motifs suggest the

movement of souls—individual voices meeting, joining, and forming communities on

both sides of the bridge. Beyond its architectural portrait, Bridge reflects on the ways

bridges, both literal and symbolic, connect people and hold them in shared space.

The solo piano piece Bridge translates the structural and sonic qualities of the Golden

Gate Bridge and its hum into piano textures—centered on the pitch A and enriched with

glissandi, tremolos, and motivic interplay—to explore themes of connection,

community, and resilience.