Music has always been a vital part of the life of the young composer Jaylin Vinson. Originally from Oklahoma City, he began playing violin and trumpet in sixth grade and quickly became interested in other instruments, including the viola and the cello. Jaylin long held ambitions to attend Rice University’s Shephard School of Music, and upon realizing that goal, proceeded to waste no time in making his mark as a prodigious and energetic composition student.

Mere weeks into his Jaylin’s first semester in the fall of 2021, fellow freshman (and Heifetz alumna) Claire Druffner suggested he write a piece for cello quartet, as she was one of four freshman cello students that year. Not long after, he penned, and the quartet premiered, the dynamic piece Shimmer!

Shimmer also got to shine on at Heifetz – at no less an occasion than the Celebrity Series stage during the 2022 Festival of Concerts. Fellow students Boubacar Diallo, Michael Zyzak, and Nicholas Tsang – like Claire, all cellists in the Heifetz Chamber Music Seminar – joined her in what she describes as “… a piece all about unadulterated joy and intense optimism that I find rare in contemporary music.” Jaylin Vinson’s unique approach and insatiable curiosity are evident, as the performers explore an dizzying variety of sonic textures, from the inquisitive harmonics of the opening, to the energetic polyrhythms of the pizzicato section. And in the middle a wildly joyful dance that makes you want to “Shimmer” and shout!